Aston Villa went up against Sheffield United in their season opener at Villa Park. Dean Smith’s men went onto win the match by 1-0 against Chris Wilder’s side, courtesy of a winning header by defender Ezri Konsa.
The Villans started to put pressure on the opposition from the word go and looked to keep the Sheffield defence on their feet. A brilliant through ball from Tyrone Mings saw Ollie Watkins get into a good goalscoring position but John Egan got into his way and was sent off for denying Watkins a goalscoring opportunity. However, the Blades got the chance to take the lead against the run of play when Chris Basham was brought down in the box by Matt Targett. New signing Emiliano Martinez, who made his debut for Aston Villa after signing from Arsenal, made a fabulous save to deny John Lundstram from the spot.
Aston Villa took the lead in the 63rd minute as Ezri Konsa headed past Aaron Ramsdale after the ball was put into his path by Mings from a corner. The scoreline stayed that way as Dean Smith’s men held onto the slender lead and won their first match of the season.
Here is how the Aston Villa players are rated from their against Sheffield United.
Emiliano Martinez 8
A good debut for the Argentine goalie as he kept his team in the match with a brilliant penalty save. A well deserved clean sheet for the former Arsenal shot-stopper.
Matty Cash 6
He made some good runs into the opposition half with the ball. Defensively he looked good as well.
Ezri Konsa 8
Made a number of good tackles to get his side out of harm’s way. His glancing header helped Villa secure all three points from the match.
Tyrone Mings 7
Did a great job alongside Konsa to keep the opposition attackers at bay. His inch-perfect header to assist his defensive partner was a treat to watch.
Matt Targett 5.5
Made some rash challenges, one of which saw him get a yellow card as his side give away a penalty. Did well in the second half though against the likes of Ollie McBurnie and Lundstram.
Conor Hourihane 7
His inch-perfect deliveries into the box from the dead ball situations caused a lot of trouble to the opposition defenders. Played good link up with Jack Grealish and Watkins.
Douglas Luiz 6
Did well to control the ball in the middle of the pitch and made some key passes as well.
John McGinn 5.5
Looked a little caught up at times but recovered well. Did not have much of an impact on the game.
Trézéguet 6
Made some quick runs into the box. Had an eye for the goal but could not get one.
Jack Grealish 7
A decent performance from the Villa skipper as he kept finding space to unleash his shots on the opposition goal. Played some good passes to set up his teammates.
Ollie Watkins 6.5
Looked like a constant threat throughout the match around the box. Could have done better on a few occasions to get his name on the scoresheet.
Substitutes
Keinan Davis 6
His physical presence helped his side get the better of the opposition defenders on a number of occasions. A decent performance to say the least.
