As Aston Villa struggled to break Southampton down this past weekend, Unai Emery looked to his bench for inspiration to help secure three crucial points.
As we continue to compete across three fronts, the Villa boss has utilised his strength in depth effectively, as although we have a deficit to overturn in our Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain this week, we’ve now won four consecutive Premier League games in our bid to return to Europe’s top table next season with a top-five finish.
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That’s come despite rotation and resting key individuals, and a key factor behind that has been the impact and influence of players coming off the bench to make the difference in the latter stages of games.
On Saturday afternoon, it was Ollie Watkins’ turn to make his presence felt, as after perhaps growing a little frustrated and disappointed over not being involved in our starting line-up in some major games over the past fortnight, it was clear that he came on with a point to prove.
Just minutes after his introduction, his sharp movement and ability to run in behind saw him win our first penalty, and although Marco Asensio ultimately missed from the spot, it was a clear indication and intention from Villa that our play was about to ramp up in the final 20 minutes or so.
Watkins wasn’t to be denied though, as his movement once again caused Southampton problems, and it was the vision and brilliance of Youri Tielemans that spotted him and provided the assist, while the Villa frontman produced a stunning finish to cap off an excellent move.
That’s now 15 goals and 12 assists in 46 appearances so far this season as the 29-year-old continues to deliver consistently over the past three years in the top flight, while his goal moved him to within one of Gabby Agbonlahor, as it looks inevitable that he’ll break his record and become Villa’s all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League, and in significantly less time.
It remains to be seen what Villa XI starts against PSG on Tuesday night as Emery has tactical and personnel decisions to make as he plots the perfect gameplan to overcome the Ligue 1 champions, but Watkins has certainly made his point and will be in contention to get his starting berth back for what is a crunch encounter in our season.
In the first leg away in Paris, the pace and ability to hurt PSG on the counter-attack made Marcus Rashford a sensible option to lead the line, but with Watkins’ work-rate, movement off the ball and ability to stretch defences while adding a goalscoring threat, it all surely makes him the man to lead the way as we look to produce a memorable comeback and keep our European hopes alive.
A sensational finish from Ollie after that ping from Youri 😮💨 🎯 pic.twitter.com/o0p92SDX4X
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 12, 2025
