Morgan Rogers impressive, £26m man terrible – Aston Villa’s three winners and losers vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
Aston Villa ran out 2-0 winners against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Europa League on Thursday evening as Unai Emery’s men continued their fine home form.
A slow first-half only burst into life in added-time as Ian Maatsen opened the scoring with a fine finish from a tight angle from Morgan Rogers‘ incisive through ball.
Aston Villa doubled their lead just before the hour mark as Ezri Konsa won a penalty and Donyell Malen converted from the spot, and it ended 2-0 on a comfortable night for the hosts.
Football Insider have picked out three winners and losers from the Villa squad after their win.
Winners
Morgan Rogers
Rogers has struggled for form at the start of this season, but he was back to his best against Maccabi with a performance that proved why so many top clubs have him on their radar right now.
The England winger saw Maatsen making a dash towards goal and played a pinpoint pass to him to open the scoring, while he was a constant threat in attacking midfield with the most chances created (3) in the match.
He was mightily impressive on a night in which his team needed someone to step up and take the game to their visitors, and Villa will want to tie Rogers down to a new contract as soon as possible after this performance.
Ian Maatsen
Maatsen displayed some impressive finishing for a left-back to make it 1-0 at the end of the first-half, and he recovered from a shaky start to give Maccabi very little down their right-flank as the game wore on.
The Dutchman has only started one league game so far this term amid strong competition with Lucas Digne, but could be line for more game-time going forward following a decent showing on Thursday (6 November).
Emi Martinez
Aston Villa chiefs have been worried about Emi Martinez’s recent form and his frame of mind after a turbulent summer window, but he proved his worth with a great showing here.
The World Cup winner superbly denied Maccabi on a number of occasions as they looked destined to score, with three saves, 91% pass accuracy and 0.94 goals prevented on a fine night for his chances of nailing down a European place ahead of Marco Bizot.
Losers
Evann Guessand
Villa signed Nice forward Evann Guessand for £26million in the summer window, but he once again flopped on Thursday night with another poor performance.
The 24-year-old has now scored just one goal in his first 14 appearances for the club, and he was seriously ineffective against Maccabi, with no goals, no chances created and just two touches in their box before going off in the 74th minute.
He was lucky to even last that long, and will surely not be starting key games for Emery’s side anytime soon.
Victor Lindelof
Victor Lindelof cut a frustrated figure throughout the 90 minutes as he put a shift in at right-back for the hosts but struggled with the pace and directness of Helio Varela and Dor Peretz.
The former Man United man committed two fouls and won just two of his four ground duels, and will certainly not be troubling Matty Cash for starts from now on.
Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins has been a shadow of his former self this season, and his poor campaign continued at Villa Park as he was dropped to the bench and saw Malen play well and score as a centre-forward.
Even when he did come on in the 64th minute, the England man struggled to make an impact and did not even have a shot on goal as Malen continued to be the man to make things happen in attack.