Aston Villa faced off against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium earlier tonight hoping to bounce back in the Premier League by earning a positive result on the road. The Villans managed to grab the lead midway through the first half via Bukayo Saka’s own goal. They hung on to their narrow advantage and went into the half-time interval one goal to the good.
The West Midlands club kept a good shape in the second half and finally killed the game off courtesy of a quick-fire brace from Ollie Watkins. The contest ended with Dean Smith’s men pulling off an emphatic 3-0 victory away at North London.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player performed during the contest against the Gunners.
GK: Emiliano Martínez – 7/10
The former Arsenal shot-stopper made a couple of good saves but was mostly untroubled because of some woeful Arsenal finishing. He will be happy to have kept a clean sheet on his return to the Emirates.
RB: Matty Cash – 8/10
Cash was defensively solid and made a plethora of clearances to deny the opposition time and time again. He also pulled off a few vital interceptions at the back but struggled to affect the game too much in the opposition half.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 7.5/10
The Villans centre-back passed the ball accurately and was a rock at the heart of Smith’s defence. Like his teammate Cash, he stood strong and cleared his lines whenever required to secure a well-deserved clean sheet at the English capital.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 7/10
Defensively, Mings was a towering presence and did well to restrict the Arsenal attackers from finding the back of the net during the 90 minutes.
LB: Matt Targett – 7.5/10
He didn’t give away too much defensively and did enough to keep the Arsenal attackers quiet during the game.
CM: John McGinn – 7/10
McGinn worked his socks off and was a real bundle of energy at the centre of the park. He made a couple of promising runs from midfield and created some inviting chances for his teammates to score.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 7/10
The Brazilian midfield ace was inventive with his passing and managed to provide adequate protection for his teammates at the back as well.
RM: Trezeguet – 8/10
The Egyptian talent was surprisingly strong in the air and made some well-timed tackles to win possession back for his side. He was also a threat in the final third, but it was his hunger to get hold of the ball that deserves a lot of praise.
CAM: Ross Barkley – 8/10
Barkley ran the show in the opposition half as he engineered some promising goal-scoring opportunities for everyone around him. He was a constant threat and ended the match with a well-deserved assist to his name.
LM: Jack Grealish – 8/10
The Villans playmaker orchestrated some decent openings from the left flank and picked up an assist for setting up Watkins’ second goal.
ST: Ollie Watkins – 9/10
The English striker struggled to score in the first half but came back and produced a mesmerising performance in the second to secure all three points for his side in style. He scored a quick-fire brace in the final quarter of the contest and deserved to be named the man of the match for all his good work.
Substitutes:
RM: Anwar El Ghazi – N/A
He did not get enough time to make an impact.
