Aston Villa faced off against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final earlier this evening hoping to pull off an upset at the Wembley Stadium. The Villans made a sloppy start to the game and conceded their first goal in the 20th minute when Sergio Aguero scored from close range. Rodri doubled his team’s lead just ten minutes later when he found the back of the net with his header. However, Dean Smith’s men responded positively and got a goal back via Mbwana Samatta’s header in the 41st minute.
The West Midlands outfit put in a valiant showing after the half-time break but struggled to create too many chances going forward. In the end, Man City were the far superior side as they lifted the Carabao Cup after a tightly-contested 2-1 win over the Villans.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player fared during the match versus the Citizens.
GK: Ørjan Nyland – 6/10
He deserved to start tonight after his heroics in the earlier rounds. Nyland was not at fault for any of the goals tonight.
RB: Frédéric Guilbert – 6/10
The French full-back had to work hard to cope with Raheem Sterling’s pace out on the wide areas. He defended quite well but didn’t provide too much going forward.
CB: Björn Engels – 7/10
He put in a solid defensive display today. He made some vital blocks and read the danger quickly to frustrate the opposition for major periods during the contest.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 7/10
The English talent put in a commanding performance at the heart of the Villans defence and fought for every loose possession of the ball inside his own half.
LB: Matt Targett – 6/10
He worked hard at the back and put in a decent shift down the left flank.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 6/10
The Brazilian kept things ticking in midfield but failed to create anything of note in the opposition half.
CM: Marvelous Nakamba – 5/10
He was fortunate to have stayed on the pitch after being shown a yellow card for a horrendous challenge on Aguero. It was not the most convincing display from the Zimbabwean tonight.
RM: Ahmed Elmohamady – 7/10
Elmohamady worked his socks off to stretch the pitch out on the right-wing. He was also not shy about tracking back when pinned back inside his own half.
CAM: Jack Grealish – 6/10
The English playmaker carried the team on his back at times and was Smith’s best hope for an equaliser in the second half. However, he was wasteful with his shot attempts and was left frustrated in the end.
LM: Anwar El Ghazi – 6/10
He squandered a fantastic chance to score with his head. However, El Ghazi deserves credit for setting up Samatta’s goal late in the first half.
ST: Mbwana Samatta – 7.5/10
The Tanzanian covered a lot of ground with his running and kept his composure to find the back of the net just before the half-time break.
Substitutes:
RM: Trezeguet – 5/10
The Egyptian came on for the final 20 minutes but struggled to get himself involved in the game.
CM: Conor Hourihane – 5/10
The Irish midfield ace offered very little in terms of creativity.
ST: Keinan Davis – N/A
Not enough time to influence the game.
