Aston Villa secured a 3-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday, with Unai Emery having another positive performance to dissect this week.
Villa have responded brilliantly after our opening weekend defeat at Newcastle Utd, picking up wins over Everton, Hibernian and Burnley, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one in the process.
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Aside from a shaky period to start the second half on Sunday, Villa were in control for the most part in a strong display as we successfully imposed our style on the game a lot better, while there was real quality to our build-up play and attacking threat for all three goals.
Matty Cash helped himself to a brace in a more advanced role on the right side, while Moussa Diaby capped off a brilliant display with a goal to help seal all three points.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Burnley:
Robin Olsen, 6.5 – Wasn’t troubled in the first half and was calm and accurate with his distribution. Flapped at the Burnley goal as having got a hand to it, will feel as though he should have done better to keep it out. A decent outing on his return to the side though.
Ezri Konsa, 7.5 – Shifted across to right-back and was excellent both defensively and with his composure in possession. Showed his versatility in the latter stages with a positional change, but another strong outing.
Diego Carlos, 7.5 – Physically imposing and recovered well to get across and cut out danger several times. His long-distance passing was a little off, but generally another positive effort in a big week for him having returned to the starting XI and played two games in five days.
Pau Torres, 6.5 – Had a good game overall as he was excellent in possession again, but didn’t defend well enough for the Burnley goal. Needed to be stronger with his pressure inside the box, and will hopefully learn from that and continue to improve defensively.
Lucas Digne, 7 – Another positive outing for the Frenchman, as he provided the assist for Diaby’s goal with another accurate cut-back cross. However, similarly to Torres, he could have defended better for the goal, as he lost the key header at the back post that ultimately led to the goal.
Matty Cash, 8.5 – Didn’t work for him the last time he played in a more advanced role on the right side against Wolves last season, but this was a superb effort from Cash. Linked up brilliantly with Diaby throughout to create real problems for Burnley, and took both of his goals really well having gotten into dangerous positions to score.
Boubacar Kamara, 8 – Crucial presence in midfield as he did so well to consistently break up play and win possession back. Tidied up on countless occasions and helped set the tempo with his passing and control in that area of the pitch.
Douglas Luiz, 8 – Similar to Kamara in his ability to dictate tempo and possession, and that was key either side of our shaky spell to start the second half. When Luiz is able to get on the ball and run our play, it gives us an important sense of composure and control in the heart of the midfield battle.
John McGinn, 8 – Superb shift from the Villa captain, as he produced his usual tireless effort off the ball, but continuously found pockets of space in the final third and played some brilliant passes to get us on our way to creating dangerous chances and our goals. Really impressive.
Moussa Diaby, 8.5 – A livewire in the final third as his movement, link-up play and threat in front of goal caused Burnley problems throughout. Rewarded with a goal, and it was a top finish from the Frenchman at a crucial stage of the game with the hosts pushing to score an equaliser.
Ollie Watkins, 7.5 – Will be disappointed that he wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet as he had a couple of good chances to convert, but still played a vital role for us in our win. Provided the cross for Cash’s opener, while his pressure, pressing and movement off the ball continued to be a real problem for Burnley to contend with.
Substitutes:
Nicolo Zaniolo, 7 – A really positive debut for the Italian international, as he worked hard off the ball to show his commitment and tenacity, while he was constantly positive and direct with his work on the ball as he had a couple of chances to score despite his limited minutes.
Bertrand Traore, N/A
Jhon Duran, N/A
Youri Tielemans, N/A