Aston Villa’s woeful start to the season continues to discover new depths as we were held by 10-man Sunderland to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
That’s now five games without a win to start the Premier League campaign, with Unai Emery not even waiting for the final whistle before charging down the tunnel at the Stadium of Light.
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It was another dire performance from Villa as we lacked ideas, creative quality and even the basics of urgency and aggression to match Sunderland who were reduced to 10 men for well over an hour, and there is growing concern and fear over where this path is heading.
Next up is Bologna at home in the Europa League in midweek, and if this latest miserable chapter doesn’t serve as an almighty wake-up call for the players, what will?
Aston Villa player ratings vs Sunderland
Emiliano Martinez, 5.5 – Didn’t have a great deal to do as we nullified Sunderland well for the most part, barring the shambolic defending that led to their goal, which he had little chance of stopping.
Matty Cash, 6 – Good on him for having a crack from distance regardless of his luck with the goalkeeping blunder as it ended our goal drought. Defended diligently, but could argue again that there wasn’t enough quality going forward and got caught out for the goal we conceded.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Produced a vital block in the first half as he defended well for most of the game, but along with Cash, the pair didn’t do enough to prevent the goal as they allowed Isidor to break in behind them, albeit the fact that everyone stepped off and gave Xhaka a free header for the assist summed us up.
Tyrone Mings, 5.5 – Made some important interventions at times when called upon but Villa continued to look vulnerable in periods during the game even with a numerical advantage.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Didn’t do enough in possession in a game where we should have been in control and in the ascendancy. Our lack of width and quality on the flanks continues to hurt us.
Boubacar Kamara, 5 – Did his job well in terms of keeping things tidy in midfield and ticking us over, but it was a limited influence which contributed to our lack of incisiveness and cutting edge.
John McGinn, 5 – As always, the work ethic was there to give us a foothold in the encounter, but there’s just not enough quality in the attacking phase from our midfield.
Evann Guessand, 6 – Tracked back really well in the early stages to put in a defensive shift, and his movement gave us an outlet down the right flank. However, he missed a big chance in the first half that he should have buried, but instead hit his effort straight at the goalkeeper.
Morgan Rogers, 4 – Dreadful. Again. His struggles continue this season, and while he’s rightly acknowledged that he needs to evolve and adapt his game as defenders are better prepared for him now, there is zero sign of that happening on the pitch. Surrendered possession practically every time he touched the ball.
Emiliano Buendia, 4.5 – Not much better than Rogers as our lack of creativity and quality in the final third was glaring again, but showed glimpses at least with his one-touch football and movement in a bid to try and unlock the Sunderland defence.
Ollie Watkins, 4 – No service once again as he cuts an isolated figure up front and his touches were coming too deep as he goes searching for the ball. However, missed a huge late chance which would have won the game for us, and there’s no excuse for him to miss that as he has to be ruthless when chances come his way.
Substitutes:
Harvey Elliott, 5 – Gave us a fresh creative outlet in the latter stages but couldn’t offer a decisive impact, as he fired a shot wide when he arguably should have done better.
Ian Maatsen, 5 – Did provide us with an injection of pace and energy, but bizarrely looked hesitant at times to go on the overlap or waited too long which contributed to our moves breaking down.
Donyell Malen, 5 – Broke through the Sunderland defence but couldn’t find a finish in a critical moment in the game.
Jadon Sancho, N/A
Lamare Bogarde, N/A
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