With plenty of questions being raised given Aston Villa’s previous two performances, yesterday evening’s trip to Arsenal left few fans feeling confident.
Most simply wanted head coach Dean Smith’s side to put in a showing to prove more recent results had simply been a blip as opposed to something materially going wrong, but we got far more than that and very deservedly so.
With John McGinn wrongly having an effort chalked off after only 48 seconds, we finally got ourselves in front with a credited own goal and with some lovely attacking play on display, Ollie Watkins went on to help himself to a brace inside of the final 20 minutes.
Plenty to shout about after a performance like that, and plenty of questions answered. Some fans might think otherwise given the improved showings on display, but statistics website Whoscored gave their star man award to Ollie with a player rating of 9.12.
Arsenal MotM?
Ollie Watkins
Ross Barkley
Jack Grealish
Trezeguet
Completing the top five best performers on the day were Ross Barkley (8.17), Jack Grealish (7.93), Matty Cash (7.81) and Trezeguet (7.72). Extra mentions for John McGinn, Emi Martinez, Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa who also received seven plus scores.
Quite why Matt Targett and Douglas Luiz missed out is beyond me.
Onwards and upwards again.
Previous Article:
“Not What People Want To Hear” – But Villa Talent Is Right As He Reflects On Leeds
