Roy Keane blown away by ‘absolutely amazing’ Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz after what he did v Tottenham
Douglas Luiz continued his stunning Aston Villa form this season with a delightful display in the XXX against Tottenham in North London on Sunday afternoon.
Luiz, 25, assisted a goal for the third time this term when just before half time, he delivered an incredible cross into the box from a deep free-kick. Pau Torres rose above all others to score the first headed goal Tottenham have conceded in the Premier League under Ange Postecoglou.
The Brazilian’s assist against Spurs sums up how well he’s performed this season and it also explains why clubs like Arsenal are reportedly in the hunt to sign him [The Mirror].
Manchester United legend Roy Keane was particularly impressed by Luiz’s free-kick in stoppage time of the first half.
Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event at half-time on Sunday (25 November 03:02pm), Keane dubbed Luiz’s free-kick “absolutely amazing” as they showed highlights of Torres’ goal.
Keane played alongside David Beckham at Old Trafford, so he understands how incredibly talented you need to be to whip in a free-kick like that.
As per Sofascore, Luiz generated an xA (expected assists) stat of just 0.12 because of how audacious it was. But how did he do it?
Firstly, you need vision.
As you can see in the image above, Luiz has his head down as he’s about to take the free kick but before that, he’s already scoped out the entire line of attackers and defenders outside of the Spurs penalty area.
Among them is Torres, who is perhaps the main man who you want to be latching onto the end of your high cross into the penalty area.
Next, you can see the moment Torres is about to head home.
It’s been delivered to him on a plate as at this point, the ball is over the penalty spot, pretty much, and is about to meet perfectly with the Spain international’s head to beat Guglielmo Vicario in the Tottenham goal.
Stepping up with a free-kick that good at the end of a half is simply incredible.
Luiz’s performance wasn’t solely about that set piece, however.
According to stats by Sofascore, Luiz has an incredible pass accuracy of 94 per cent, misplacing just three passes throughout the entire 90 minutes.
He also saw two of his four crosses greet a teammate and five out of his six long balls.
Although it’s not really his job, he also completed the only dribble he attempted.
Off the ball, the ex-Manchester City man won six out of 12 ground duels, made two interceptions and won three tackles.
It’s easy to forget that based on how he played at Tottenham on Sunday, Villa have been fairly poor on their travels this season and Spurs have been quite solid at home.
You didn’t get that based on Luiz’s performance though.
He absolutely bossed it in North London.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans have an ace up their sleeve to sign this star player who’s adored by Jose Mourinho.