Peter Lynch

Mon 27 November 2023 17:10, UK

Aston Villa climbed to fourth place in the Premier League table with a fine 2-1 victory against Tottenham on Sunday (26 November).

But they were made to fight very hard for all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having gone behind to Giovani Lo Celso’s goal.

Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins were, however, on hand to score for the visitors to secure a superb three points on the road.

But it wasn’t always pretty from the travelling side, and that was particularly true with regard to Villa’s Matty Cash.

The right-back was handed a more attacking role in north London, but he had an afternoon to forget on an individual level.

As per Sofascore, the Poland international completed just 69% of his passes, won just two of his six ground duels and missed one big chance.

Furthermore, the right-sided player made three fouls, lost possession of the ball on six occasions, and was unsuccessful with his only attempted cross (0%) and only attempted long pass (0%).

Moreover, Cash was branded a coward by Times journalist Martin Hardy for his reckless first-half challenge on Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

Having just come back from a long-term injury, the Uruguay international was forced off the pitch following the tackle.

Cash meanwhile escaped with just a yellow card, but Emery wasted no time in getting the Villa man off the pitch shortly after, with Leon Bailey replacing him at half-time.

The Jamaica international had a much better game than Cash, with Bailey completing 88% of his passes, one of which was key [Sofascore].

Up next for the Midlands club is a home meeting with Legia Warsaw in the Europa League group stages on Thursday (30 November).

Their opponents currently top Group E after four matches, so it is a huge game for Villa, but Emery may be forced into dropping Cash following his nightmare on Sunday.

In other Aston Villa news, Emery has a deadly duo on his hands at the Villa Park club as a double-figure link-up emerges.