Three transformed Aston Villa players who have picked themselves against Feyenoord
Aston Villa came from behind to beat Fulham 3-1 in the Premier League thanks to a quickfire second-half double.
Raul Jimenez went off for Fulham after injuring himself while opening the score for the Cottagers three minutes in.
Fulham wanted a penalty for a foul on Josh King midway through the first half, before Ollie Watkins scored his first goal of the season to level for the hosts at halftime.
Josh King wowed Jamie Redknapp for his display, but the youngster couldn’t help but watch on as Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn gave Aston Villa a quick double.
Aston Villa will now turn their attention to the Europa League, where they face a tough trip to Eredivisie side Feyenoord on Thursday, and some players have played themselves into contention for a start in that match.
Emiliano Buendia
Unai Emery turned to Emiliano Buendia at halftime for some added creativity in the second half in place of Harvey Elliott.
The decision paid dividends for Emery as Buendia returned his head coach’s faith, scoring and assisting within his opening six minutes on the pitch.
Firstly, Buendia laid off a pass to McGinn for the goal that gave Villa the lead before the Argentine fired in a strike of his own less than two minutes later.
Buendia also created a chance and had four passes into the final third during his second-half cameo, which will surely find him a spot in Emery’s 11 against Feyenoord after Morgan Rogers, Evan Guessand and Elliott all had poor showings.
Boubacar Kamara
After Buendia’s goal put Aston Villa 3-1 up, the hosts had a lot of the ball, but slowly Fulham worked themselves back into the game.
With 20 minutes to go, Emery turned to Boubacar Kamara, who was ultra-committed in the defensive midfield pivot to close the game out.
Kamara made a critical intervention to take the ball away from a dangerous Fulham counterattack ten minutes from time, and controlled possession well.
Lamare Bogarde had a game to forget, getting run ragged by King, while Kamara is bound to benefit from that as he eyes up a start against Feyenoord.
Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins has struggled for form to start the season, going scoreless in Aston Villa’s first seven games of the season in all competitions.
| Ollie Watkins vs Fulham | |
| Goals | 1 |
| Expected goals | 0.29 |
| Touches in opposition box | 6 |
| Passes into final third | 1 |
| Shot accuracy | 100% |
However, Watkins broke that trend with a deft finish over Bernd Leno eight minutes from half time and looked dangerous throughout.
His penalty miss against Bologna would have been playing on Watkins’ mind as he ran through one-on-one with Leno, but the England man was impressive.
Watkins will have no doubts any more and his starting place should be guaranteed for weeks to come now he’s found his scoring boots again.