Aston Villa’s new Norwegian international goalkeeper Orjan Nyland has had a mixed start to life at the club with a number of high profile errors standing out, but in the weekend’s clash against Reading he looked far more assured.
It was a game Villa clearly should’ve won given the performance and the dominance we had, but owing to their late leveller we came out of it with a 1-1 draw. The visitors did have chances though, but short of that final effort from the penalty spot following a soft decision by the referee, Nyland comfortable coped with whatever they could muster.
You could argue the saves he pulled off were run of the mill and you expect a keeper of his reported calibre to save them comfortably, but whilst the clean sheet would’ve been a better reward for all, that showing between the sticks should really bring his confidence on after recent games and allow him to better settle in.
The major takeaway was that his decision making was more spot on and he seemed less inclined to try and do everything himself, causing clangers in the process. I’d imagine he’s won himself far more friends on the back of that.
In Whoscored’s ratings, Nyland found himself top of the pile with 7.74 but Anwar El Ghazi rated at 7.64 with him contributing a couple off efforts on target along with his assist. Mohamed Elmohamady, Mile Jedinak and John McGinn complete their top five.
