Nicolo Zaniolo was nowhere to be seen for Aston Villa in 3-1 win v Crystal Palace, could face brutal Premier League axe
Aston Villa came back from behind in dramatic style to pick up all three points against Crystal Palace in an entertaining 3-1 victory but it was a first Villa Park bow to forget for Nicolo Zaniolo.
Crystal Palace took the lead early in the second half, against the run of play, when Odsonne Edouard finished off some excellent wing play from Jean-Philippe Mateta after Villa dominated much of the proceedings.
It didn’t take until the 87th minute for Jhon Duran to score a sensational equalizer before Douglas Luiz, and Leon Bailey scored in stoppage time to round off the victory and return the Villans back to winning ways after their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool before the international break.
The result takes Villa above their opponents into seventh place on nine points from their first five games.
Aston Villa are set to embark on their new European adventure on Thursday when they take on Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League for which he will have to make some key selection decisions, especially with a trip to Stamford Bridge a few days later.
One man potentially at risk of losing his place altogether could well be summer signing Zaniolo after his unimpactful performance against Crystal Palace.
The Italian international became Villa’s fourth signing of the summer, on an initial season-long loan deal after Unai Emery was keen to get in a replacement for the injury-stricken Emi Buendia who faces months on the sidelines.
Zaniolo was identified quickly as a target with Villa’s transfer chief Monchi knowing him well after signing him for Roma in 2018.
The Italian international arrived to much fanfare and optimism at Villa Park but the lights went out immediately after what he offered on Saturday. He did create a huge opportunity for Matty Cash before half-time but the Pole wasted the chance after he sliced the shot in the area, other than that, he was rather non-existent.
As per SofaScore, at half-time, the former Roma man won just two of his eight duels at a rate of 25%, completed one of his four dribbles, lost possession of the ball 12 times, dribbled past once and was given a needless yellow card for time wasting.
In the whole of his 57 minutes on the pitch, while laying on three key passes, he won just four of his 12 total duels, barely touched the ball with just 37 touches to his name and 14/18 out of successful passes, completed just one of his four dribbles at a 25% success rate while also losing possession of the ball 15 times [SofaScore].
Given he only just signed on the dotted line at Villa Park, Zaniolo still has a lot of acclimatising to do to get to grips with life in the West Midlands.
But with Emery desperate to get points on the board, and Aston Villa favourite Jacob Ramsey reported to return to action at Stamford Bridge, Zaniolo could be set for a brutal axe.
In other Aston Villa news, one player registered an unexpected “5/10” score in a lifeless performance v Crystal Palace as the player ratings are shared.