Aston Villa faced off against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium earlier tonight hoping to continue their winning start to the Premier League campaign. The Villans defended well in the first half and went into the half-time break with everything to play for in the second 45 minutes.
The West Midlands outfit kept themselves in the game and finally managed to make the breakthrough via Ross Barkley’s long-range strike in injury-time. The contest ended with Dean Smith’s men earning a hard-fought 1-0 win away at the East Midlands.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player performed during the game against the Foxes.
GK: Emiliano Martínez – 7.5/10
The Villans goalie made some solid stops at the back on his way to keeping a well-deserved clean sheet on the road.
RB: Matty Cash – 8/10
Defensively, Cash was outstanding as he made some important interceptions and last-gasp clearances to help his team get over the line with the clean sheet intact. He also passed the ball relatively well without creating too many chances in the final third.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 7/10
He maintained a good defensive line at the back and went close to scoring with his header in the second half.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 7/10
The English defensive ace started the game a bit slow but recovered well to put in a dominant display after the half-time interval.
LB: Matt Targett – 6/10
Targett had his hands full while trying to stop Leicester’s Timothy Castagne out on the wide areas. He just about did his job and has got a clean sheet to show for his efforts.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 6.5/10
He struggled to influence the game in the first half but didn’t give up and produced a much-improved shift in the second.
CM: John McGinn – 7/10
McGinn worked his socks off at the centre of the park and even managed to pick up an assist for setting up Barkley’s match-winner.
LW: Jack Grealish – 8.5/10
The Aston Villa captain was a constant threat for the Leicester defenders and engineered some decent opportunities for his teammates to score.
CAM: Ross Barkley – 8/10
The English midfielder was mostly anonymous in the first 45 minutes but popped up with the winning goal when he found the back of the net in the dying embers of the contest.
RW: Trezeguet – 7/10
He produced another tireless shift before getting replaced in the second half.
ST: Ollie Watkins – 6/10
Watkins picked a knock early on in the game and never looked like he had a goal in him.
Substitutes:
RW: Bertrand Traore – N/A
He didn’t get enough time to make an impact.
