Aston Villa ace Douglas Luiz shines with all-round masterclass despite Newcastle United thrashing
Aston Villa got their new Premier League campaign off to an absolute disaster with a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Newcastle United on Saturday (12 August).
Unai Emery’s side were in the match in the early stages, with Moussa Diaby netting on his competitive debut after just 11 minutes, five minutes after Sandro Tonali had done the same for the Magpies
But the hosts soon ran riot at St James’ Park, with Alexander Isak netting a brace, followed by goals from Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes.
It was a poor showing from the visitors, but one man that certainly shone amid the shambles was midfield ace Douglas Luiz.
The Brazilian showed both fight and class all over the pitch, doing his utmost to inspire his teammates to up their standards.
It wasn’t meant to be, but the midfielder can still hold his head high after the loss, epitomised by his 91% passing accuracy, with Luiz completing 69 of his 76 passes, as per SofaScore.
The Brazil man also made one key pass, completed his one dribble attempt, and completed five out of his seven attempted accurate long balls.
He even tried to get on the scoresheet multiple times, with one shot on target, one off, and two blocked, which was more than any other player across both teams.
Along with a debut goal from Diaby, Luiz’s display was one of the very few positive moments for Emery to take from the match.
Things must be improved upon in the clash at home to Everton on Sunday (20 August), where midfield maestro Luiz will undoubtedly once again play a central figure.
In other Aston Villa news, Willian 2.0 has emerged at the club, with the player likely to be in the senior squad for Emery.