Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win over Legia Warszawa on Thursday night, with goals from Moussa Diaby and Álex Moreno sealing all three points.
The win confirms our qualification for the knockout stage and moves us clear at the top of Group E in the Europa Conference League, albeit we still need a point in our final game to be sure of securing top spot and bypassing the playoffs round.
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Villa travel to Zrinjski in a fortnight, but that’s now four consecutive wins in Europe as we’ve bounced back well after that initial defeat in Warsaw in September.
Trouble off the pitch will undoubtedly make headlines this week as the travelling Legia fans were not allowed to enter the stadium, but importantly it was Villa who secured the win on the pitch and will hopefully wrap up top spot next time out.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Legia Warszawa:
Robin Olsen, 7 – Little he could have done with the goal given it was a fine finish. Didn’t have too much to do but commanded his area well and his distribution was excellent throughout.
Matty Cash, 7 – Energetic and combative effort as he covered plenty of ground and made it difficult for Legia to hurt us on the counter attack in particular. An important defensive contribution.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – Similar to Cash in that he read the game well to cut out danger and was a reliable, steady presence at the back to keep things relatively tight throughout.
Clement Lenglet, 7.5 – Another classy shift from the Frenchman, who has now impressed in his last three outings in Europe when stepping in for Pau Torres. Offers similar characteristics in terms of his defensive work and technical ability in possession to help us build out from the back.
Álex Moreno, 8 – What a boost to have him back. Looked sharp and was back to offering his pace and attacking intent down the left flank to provide us with a real threat. Took his goal brilliantly as he improvised with his right-footed finish, and it’s hoped he goes from strength to strength off the back of this performance.
Youri Tielemans, 6.5 – A decent effort from the Belgian international. Wasn’t quite as sharp and accurate as he has been, but continued to try to make things happen and that was important in a tight game.
Boubacar Kamara, 6 – Did well for the most part, but his sloppy error proved to be costly as his misplaced pass led to Legia’s equaliser. Fortunately, we were able to secure the win still, but that could have been a turning point in the game for the wrong reasons.
Douglas Luiz, 7.5 – A brilliant delivery which led to Moreno’s goal, and he continues to make us tick in midfield with his technical quality and passing ability to maintain our tempo and rhythm.
John McGinn, 6.5 – A limited impact from the Villa skipper in this one, as although he was energetic and got about the pitch to try and drive us forward, he was lacking that decisive touch in the final third to have a bigger influence.
Moussa Diaby, 8 – It had been hoped that he would step up in this game having struggled to make the difference in recent weeks. He wasted no time in doing so as he scored a brilliant opener for us, and he was a constant problem for Legia with his pace and movement in the final third. Can hopefully find some consistency now.
Jhon Duran, 6 – Did well with his hold up play and ability to link things together at times, but wasn’t sharp enough in front of goal to pounce on some openings. Ollie Watkins will hopefully be fit for the weekend, but this was an important run out for Duran to keep his own fitness up.
Substitutes:
Jacob Ramsey, 6 – Added fresh impetus on our left side in the second half, but couldn’t find a way to influence the game directly.
Leon Bailey, 6.5 – A really positive effort in the latter stages, with his movement causing Legia real problems. Almost scored a wonderful lobbed effort that hit the crossbar, but a positive impact nonetheless.
Nicolo Zaniolo, N/A
Lucas Digne, N/A
Leander Dendoncker, N/A
