Excellent’ runner-up Aston Villa lost the ball 20 times but won against AZ
Unai Emery’s side won 2-1 on the night, with one name in particularly putting in a stellar shift…
Aston Villa returned to winning ways on Thursday night as Unai Emery’s side beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 at Villa Park on matchday four of the Europa Conference League group stage.
Crucially, the Villans picked up three points at home to keep away from Legia Warsaw, who also won at home that evening, beating Zrinjski 2-0 in Poland.
The result of Group E’s fourth match means Villa needs a point to progress to the next stage of the tournament, with an important clash with Legia coming up.
How Aston Villa beat AZ Alkmaar It seemed like a simple task for the home team in the opening minutes of the match when Clément Lenglet opened the scoring in the second minute.
The Frenchman was denied his first goal for the club when he was sent off due to apparent reasoning by corner taker Leon Bailey, a decision which Ollie Watkins revealed later the match was deemed a “mistake” by officials who spoke to TNT Sports.
The disallowed goal marked the pinnacle of first-half excitement, as red-hot AZ striker Vangelis Pavlidis put the visitors ahead at the break.
Luckily for Emery’s side, Diego Carlos scored his first goal in blue and green to equalize in the first minute, before Watkins tied the score in the ninth minute with a strike beautiful head.
Villa’s 63% possession and six shots on target did not tell the whole story of the match, which the home team struggled to develop as AZ posed a series of questions to the team’s rotation from Spanish.
In addition to the two scorers, another gem made an impressive change at Villa Park to contribute to the win, as Bailey continued his good form on the wing.
Leon Bailey’s performance against AZ Alkmaar Praised by journalist Tom Nightingale for his “excellent” distribution of the ball throughout the match, the Jamaican scored his fifth goal in five matches match earlier with an assist to the head by Carlos.
Despite appearing frustrated at times in his decision making during the match, the winger once again proved to be too much for AZ to handle, as the Dutch side were still finding their way back to goal.
his win and assist in the previous meeting.
Aside from losing possession 20 times for his efforts in trying to move the ball forward, the 26-year-old switched on his playmaking skills for the benefit of his teammates, recording two key passes and creating one big chance, via Sofascore.
After being replaced in the final moments of the game, Bailey received a 7/10 match rating from Birmingham World’s Charlie Haffenden, who dubbed the former Bundesliga whiz as Villa’s ‘main danger’ on the night.
As also noted by Haffenden, the majority of the Villans’ chances spawned from Bailey’s area of the pitch, reinforcing the havoc he can cause when in top form on the flank in Emery’s free-flowing side.
With his form hitting its peak, the Jamaican’s argument to reclaim his spot in the favoured XI is strengthening game by game, leaving the manager with a decision to make going forward with his dynamic performances in mind.
