Aston Villa secured a 1-0 win over Zrinjski in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, courtesy of a late John McGinn winner.
It looked set to be a frustrating night for Villa as we couldn’t find a way to break down a stubborn Zrinjski defence, and particularly after defeat at Legia Warsaw in our opening game, it would have been another potentially damaging setback.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Zrinjski: Key trio decisive in dramatic win
Fortunately, we eventually found a breakthrough in the 94th minute, with McGinn heading home Matty Cash’s cross to seal the three points and ensure that Villa Park finally erupted.
It’s hoped that we can kick on from this result, as we’ll now face AZ Alkmaar in back-to-back meetings, and that could in turn be decisive to the outcome of who qualifies from Group E and advances to the knockout stage.
Crucial three points for Villa
As noted above, it was imperative that we got the win on Thursday night, as had we failed to do so, it would have given us a mountain to climb to advance.
Not only was there the disappointment of losing our opener, but with question marks over our rotation and poor midweek results so far this season having also crashed out of the Carabao Cup, it was an important test for us that we had to pass.
Hopefully, having managed to find a way to win, that will be a significant boost for the players moving forward as they continue to adapt to the Thursday-Sunday schedule.
Emery rotation still not delivering desired results
Villa dominated possession in the first half, and although we were patient and measured, there was a lack of cutting edge in the final third with our attacking play.
Things improved after the break with some of our usual starters coming on, but with Emery opting to rotate again, he arguably didn’t get the impact he was hoping for, thus the decision to make three changes at half-time.
Particularly with Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker, it was all a little slow and predictable, and in a game where we needed them to dictate and set the tempo in midfield , it didn’t quite happen. Emery has to rotate, use his squad depth and rest key players, but he needs more from those coming in to make it work.
The Villa boss reiterated after the game that he’s building a team, and so regardless of personnel, he wants us to implement our game-plan and style of play, and that isn’t quite happening just yet.
Half-time changes pivotal
It was good to see the Villa boss act swiftly and decisively at the interval, with Douglas Luiz, Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins all being introduced.
That influential trio injected energy, pace and fresh impetus into the side, with Cash getting up and down the right flank and eventually providing the assist for the winner.
While Watkins didn’t make a telling impact, his movement in and around the box gave Zrinjski a fresh headache, while Luiz controlled things in midfield and dictated our play to help us get over the line with a win.
Martinez with decisive impact once again
It’s a common theme in our games this season, but Emiliano Martinez once again produced a vital save early in the game to keep it goalless, and that proved to be decisive.
Had Zrinjski scored that opportunity, it would have changed the entire complexion of the game. We would have had to chase, the game may have become stretched, thus making us more vulnerable on the counter attack.
The atmosphere would have arguably changed too if we’d fallen behind early again, but Martinez ensured that didn’t happen, before making another crucial save in the second half to set up our win.
Tielemans struggling to find best form
It feels unfair to single out individuals for criticism when a few didn’t perform at their best, but Tielemans is finding it difficult to showcase his best form, or the quality we saw from him in pre-season.
When Luiz isn’t on the pitch, it’s the Belgian international who takes on that responsibility of making us tick in midfield with his technical quality and passing range.
However, while we see glimpses of it, it came with sloppy play and erroneous passes to surrender possession too easily. Luiz can’t play every game and he can’t keep coming on to help turn things around, and so we need Tielemans in particular to have a bigger and more effective influence on our play moving forward.
