Aston Villa player ratings from statement Premier League win over Manchester City
A Matty Cash pearler saw Villa to a third consecutive home win against City
It was a nervy final few minutes at Villa Park but Unai Emery led his team to a fourth successive win in the Premier League.
Aston Villa produced a performance that was so composed that for much of the match it was easy to forget the insane quality of the players they were keeping the ball away from and drifting past.
Villa did an awful lot right against City. The end of the first half was their best half an hour of the season by a million country miles and the second half, while it was a different challenge with the opposition chasing the game, was just as impressive in its own way.
Here are the ratings:
Emiliano Martínez - 8
Assured save from Erling Haaland just after Villa’s opening goal. Safe handling helped take the sting out of a few attacks and made a comfortable catch from a Haaland header with 20 minutes remaining.
Matty Cash - 9
Good work on the cover early on to keep Haaland out. Another really good display against a quality direct opponent in Savinho before Pep Guardiola threw Nico O’Reilly and Jeremy Doku at him for half an hour too. Outstanding.
Scored a glorious goal with his left foot to make it 1-0 from a well worked corner that nearly went wrong.
Ezri Konsa - 8
Composed under the pressure of the world’s best striker. Got across to make an important block on a Phil Foden shot very early in the second half. Confident and calm with the ball at his feet. Quality one-on-one defending when called upon and dominant in the air in his own box.
Pau Torres - 7
Outrageous pass into the left channel for Lucas Digne in the first half. Untested defensively for long periods of the game. Nearly caught out ten minutes into the second half due to a rush of blood to the head with City playing in front of Villa.
Cleared the ball from under his own crossbar a few minutes later and marshalled the six-yard box well for the most part.
Lucas Digne - 7
Attacking play to get Villa forward and win the corner from which Cash scored. Frequently a vital outlet ball on the left. Substituted with five minutes to go after a mighty shift.
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Amadou Onana - 9
Gave the ball away early and failed to close down Tijjani Reijnders after five minutes, allowing the City midfielder to shoot, but was spotless thereafter. Grew into the first half with and without the ball, culminating in a fine clipped pass in behind for Morgan Rogers and mugging off Reijnders to win a loose ball.
Superb back-tracking to pinch the ball off Haaland and to stop a John Stones pass reaching him. Four crucial late defensive interventions. Ridiculous.
Boubacar Kamara - 8
Aggressive out of possession and diligent on the cover. Confident with the ball. An all-round positive influence on Villa in every phase of the game as usual. Booked for a foul on Doku that wasn’t a foul.
John McGinn - 7
Fantastic ball to Watkins in the channel in the first half. Deflected shot zipped wide on half an hour. Whipped in a superb right-footed cross went that unsnaffled five minutes before the break. Quietly vital out of possession. Volley from a corner blocked early in the second half; he didn’t quite catch it.
Consistently took the piss out of Joško Gvardiol, albeit it’s not that hard to do. Baited Nico González into a yellow card. Replaced by Ross Barkley with a little over quarter of an hour to go.
Emi Buendía - 6
Linked well with Digne after 10 minutes to help Villa sustain some possession. Fabulous footwork to get away from markers in midfield to create a chance for Villa after quarter of an hour. Went off with an injury within the first 30 minutes.
Morgan Rogers - 7
Brave and effective in possession from the start and just kept getting better. His ability to progress the ball was one of Villa’s biggest open-play threats and he did a fair amount of useful defensive work in a second half in which he was relatively quiet.
Ollie Watkins - 6
Good running and skill on the left early in the first half and nearly paid off with a cut-back for Rogers. Sharpness of touch in the final third is holding him back at the moment.
Should have scored with a header from a corner in the 31st minute. Showed some strong hold-up play in the last quarter of an hour and a lovely turn of pace to draw Reijnders into a yellow card. Replaced by Donyell Malen late on.
Substitutes
Jadon Sancho (for Buendía, 29) - On in the first half against his old club. Looked lively but a quicker release would have made him much more of a threat on several occasions. Hustle nearly earned him a goal with 21 minutes left and he’ll be gutted he didn’t lift the second attempt. Substituted with 16 minutes left and not happy about it. 6
Ross Barkley (for McGinn, 74) - Excellent through ball for Watkins in the 75th minute and another terrific pass to tempt Guessand into a run deep into the City half. Got a foot on the ball to calm things down late in the day. 7
Evann Guessand (for Sancho, 74) - Sent on to squeeze a 90-minute shift into 15 minutes. Phenomenal tenacity to earn Phil Foden a yellow card from a lost cause after a City set piece. 7
Donyell Malen (for Watkins, 86) - Late substitute. N/A
Ian Maatsen (for Digne, 86) - Late substitute. N/A