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- Newly promoted Burnley hosted Unai Emery’s in form Aston Villa looking for second consecutive Premier League win in Turf Moor
- Matty Cash scored an unlikely first half double following some wonderful football from the away side to give them a 2-0 half time lead
- Lyle Foster scored a goal right after half time to bring Burnley back into the game but Diaby killed it off with an arrowing strike into the bottom corner
Burnley player ratings: Foster fires
Contents
James Trafford 6/10: Some significant saves from Watkins in particular, however not a night he would like to remember for long.
Dara O’Shea 6.5/10: Decent on the ball and defended his area well when facing the play, but had some trouble when chasing the pacy villa forwards back.
Connor Roberts 5.5/10: Was often left undecided between going forward and staying back, failed to track Digne for the third goal.
Ameen Al Dakhil 6/10: Looked uncomfortable against Watkins as the Villa man often got the run on him.
Hannes Delcroix 6/10: Had a torrid time dealing with Villa’s right sided rotations, but tried to get up and down the pitch and provide cover.
Benson Manuel 5/10: Couldn’t affect the game from the right hand side enough, as he was substituted at half-time.
Sander Berge 5/10: Looked to burst forward from midfield whenever he could but couldn’t cope with Villa’s box midfield especially in the first half.
Lyle Foster 7/10: Toiled hard the entire game, was rewarded for his efforts when he cleverly spun Torres to get the goal.
Josh Cullen 6/10: Put in the hard yards trying to cover the middle of the pitch, however was limited in terms of forward passing.
Luca Koleosho 6/10: Couldn’t do much going forward as he had to mostly cover for Villa’s right wing play before being subbed off.
Zeki Amdouni 6/10: Tough night, tried to close down Villa’s players and prevent playing out from the back, but without much success.
Substitutes
Johann Gudmundsson 7/10: Instant impact after coming off the bench at half time, as his battling header created his side’s goal.
Aaron Ramsey 5.5/10: Added some legs to a tiring midfield.
Nathan Redmond 5.5/10: Ran at the defense and created some uncertainty.
Jay Rodriguez 4/10: Missed a glorious opportunity after coming on late.
Jacob Bruun Larsen: N/A
Aston Villa player ratings: Cash creates havoc
Robin Olsen 6/10: Standing in for Emi Martinez, he pulled of some decent saves but did look shaky at times.
Diego Carlos 6.5/10: Powerful presence in the middle of the situational back three, he did well when defense settled, but had some trouble during the transitions.
Ezri Konsa 7/10: Commanding as the hybrid right back/right center back role, he carried the ball forward and defended his area expertly.
Pau Torres 6.5/10: Composed on the ball, he was a key cog in Villa playing out from the back; it was a decent showing even though he could have done better for the goal.
Matty Cash 8.5/10: Playing in an advanced position, the Poland international cashed-in with two well taken goals after ghosting in to the box.
Douglas Luiz 6/10: Picked up some clever positions and kept the ball circulating well, however was caught defensively at times.
Lucas Digne 7/10: Exceptional going forward, delivered some devilish crosses which caused panic in the claret and blue back four, could have been better defensively though.
Boubacar Kamara 7.5/10: Shielded the back four, covered the zone 14 expertly, was neat on the ball and prevented most threats Burnley posed.
John McGinn 7/10: Tireless in the middle of the park, his composure on the ball unlocked the home side’s defense on multiple occasions.
Moussa Diaby 8/10: Direct, deadly and devastating, the summer signing had Burnley backpedaling with his pace and dribbling; created a goal and scored another to top it off.
Ollie Watkins 7/10: Got in behind Burnley defense cleverly, his movement and positioning caused trouble as he created a goal but he also missed a few.
Substitutes
Nicolo Zaniolo /10: Was eager to get his debut goal, should have decided to pass rather than shoot on multiple occasions.
Bertrand Traore: N/A
Jhon Duran: N/A
Youri Tielemans: N/A
Burnley vs Aston Villa: Match Summary and Highlights
Unai Emery’s men got down to business very quickly as his trademark automatisms were visible from the very beginning of the game. From such a move Matty Cash, playing higher up the pitch got in to score the first goal after Ollie Watkins set him up with a delightful dink.
The second was even better as the away side’s right flank rotations caused Burnley defenders to scamper out of position and Moussa Diaby’s direct running had them back pedaling. Diaby slid a measured pass for Cash to strike home for his unlikely double. Aston Villa went into half time with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Vincent Komany made a half time substitution and Gudmundsson made and instant impact as he won a header at the back post to create an opportunity which Lyle foster buried with a clever spin and finish. Burnley’s fightback hope didn’t last long as a Unai Emery’s team set about executing their plan in swift motion.
In a sweeping move from back to front, Villa curved through Bunrley with precision and found Digne on the overlap. The Frenchman cut back a precise ball into the patch of Diaby, who arrowed his shot into the bottom corner. Burnley tried to get back to the game from there on but Villa closed it out professionally, winning 3-1.
Man of the Match
An unlikely source of goals, Matty Cash was playing in the right of Villa’s midfield box with Leon Bailey out injured. The Poland international delivered with aplomb as he scored two fantastic goals, ran up and down the pitch tirelessly and was a menace in general.
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