Aston Villa suffered a 4-2 defeat at home to Olympiacos in the first leg of our Europa Conference League semi-final on a disappointing night at Villa Park.
The visitors raced into a two-goal lead after half an hour, but Villa did brilliantly either side of half-time to drag ourselves level at 2-2 in what turned into a thrilling encounter.
READ MORE: Focus on Villa man ahead of crunch showdown as Emery backs him to deliver
However, as we continued to make mistakes, our sloppy play and lack of control was punished as Olympiacos will take a two-goal advantage into the second leg in Greece next week, with Douglas Luiz missing a late penalty in what could prove to be a crucial moment in the tie.
For Villa, there is much to improve on and learn from this, but the tie is certainly not over, and Unai Emery will know what is required from his players to turn our deficit around and keep our European dreams alive.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Olympiacos:
Robin Olsen, 5 – The drop off from Emi Martinez remains huge, as although he’s a capable shot-stopper, we simply don’t have that same presence, solidity and understanding at the back. Indecisive in his movement when Olympiacos played over the top and got in behind and that led to some of the goals and our uncertainty in defence.
Matty Cash, 5.5 – Showed determination and drive to push us up the pitch at times and defended resolutely. However, there just wasn’t enough quality at either end to make a telling difference.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Unfortunate with the deflection that led to the fourth goal, but as a defensive unit, we weren’t anywhere near solid enough to nullify their threat and didn’t cope with their press to build out from the back.
Clement Lenglet, 5 – Played an eye-catching pass or two and dealt with long balls over the top relatively well, but similarly to Konsa, they didn’t break that first press from Olympiacos effectively enough to slow our play down and give us control.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Struggled defensively and wasn’t able to make a decisive contribution going forward, even though he did well at times to stretch the pitch and give us width.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Offered a real spark on the right side with his trickery, pace and direct play. Continues to pose a consistent threat for us in the final third and impressed going forward.
John McGinn, 5.5 – Energetic and tenacious as always, as he showed good physicality and composure on the ball at times to give us a foothold and possession. However, it was all too fleeting as we struggled to dictate the tempo and got sucked into a back-and-forth affair.
Douglas Luiz, 4 – His poor form continued as he not only conceded the penalty that made it 3-2 and killed our momentum, but then missed a spot-kick of his own in what could prove to be a costly mistake. Wasn’t composed or orchestrating our play as he is capable of doing, with Emery giving him a stern talking to midway through the first half amid various conversations with his players.
Morgan Rogers, 6 – Denied by a fantastic early save, and looked to be positive throughout with his strength and pace with the ball at his feet. Looked tired as the game went on though as he’s had to take on a significant workload given our injuries.
Moussa Diaby, 6.5 – Provided the assist for our first goal before slotting home our second in a decisive performance in the final third. Both he and Bailey looked to be occupying too similar an area on the pitch that didn’t expose gaps in the Olympiacos defence, but an important contribution despite the outcome.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Took his goal brilliantly and it felt like a big moment in the game to spark our comeback. Worked hard throughout but didn’t have too many more opportunities. Looked to have been played in but hesitated at one stage, but he’ll be hoping to be clinical next week if we can provide more consistent service.
Substitutes:
Jhon Duran, 5.5 – Added a physical and aerial presence in the latter stages and won the penalty that Luiz missed.
Tim Iroegbunam, N/A
Nicolo Zaniolo, N/A
