Aston Villa 5-0 Bristol City

Robert Snodgrass scored Villa's winner at Middlesbrough on Saturday and netted twice against Bristol City

Aston Villa achieved their biggest win of the season against Bristol City to go fifth in the Championship table.

Scott Hogan netted a superb looping header and, although Luke Steele denied him an almost identical second, Robert Snodgrass tapped in the rebound.

Jack Grealish scampered clear to create Snodgrass' second after half-time.

Against a tiring Bristol City side, Alan Hutton set up Birkir Bjarnason for Villa's fourth and Conor Hourihane's deflected shot completed the rout.

• Relive Aston Villa's win against Bristol City

The visitors fell to only their fifth league defeat of the campaign, and their second in succession, as they failed to capitalise on results elsewhere earlier in the day.

With the exception of runaway leaders Wolves, who host Brentford on Tuesday, none of the teams who started 2018 in the Championship's top six were victorious on New Year's Day.

An away win would have taken City back up to second in the table but, after a bright start, they struggled to cope with a rampant Villa attack.

Before his first-half opener, striker Hogan had scored only four goals for Villa since a £12m move from Brentford in January 2017 - three of them in the EFL Cup.

Villa had let a two-goal lead slip in their previous home game, a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United on 23 December.

But there were no such worries for the home supporters on this occasion as they romped to their biggest home win since April 2013.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce told BBC WM:

"I am delighted for a lot of individuals who it hasn't quite happened for - you get a little bit of confidence and all of a sudden they look really good footballers again.

"It can be daunting to play at Aston Villa when it isn't going for you.

"The goal settles everybody down and in the end it becomes comfortable. There was a big turning point after half-time when they had a chance to score and it might have become a bit nervous and edgy.

"Overall, to come a beat a very good side who are above us in the league was terrific."

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Today we were superb for the first 20 minutes until we conceded the first goal.

"It was the bit after that which gave me frustration because I thought we stopped playing and stopped the belief just because of one goal. That shouldn't have happened.

"After half time I have to take responsibility personally for the third and fourth goal, I went gung-ho if you like to try get back in the game.

"I can't go in and chastise the players because they have been unbelievable and they are great lads. They give everything and they will continue to give everything again.

"We have to write it off as one game too far."