Aston Villa: Moussa Diaby must be dragged off at HT v Newcastle United, he’s been wasteful in first-half at Villa Park
Unai Emery must drag off Moussa Diaby at half-time after his wasteful attacking display for Aston Villa against Newcastle as they go in at half-time 2-0 down.
The Villans were looking to close the gap between themselves and Liverpool at the top of the league to two points when they took on a stuttering Magpies at Villa Park on Tuesday (30 January).
Aston Villa are still yet to taste defeat at Villa Park this season but were made to work to keep their impressive home record intact as Eddie Howe’s men started in confident fashion.
Newcastle looked to exploit the high defensive line of the Villans and on a few occasions found themselves in promising goalscoring opportunities especially through Alexander Isak who looked through on goal from a long ball but failed to get his first touch right.
Villa had chances of their own and Frenchman Diaby had a wonderful chance to make the most of a goalscoring scenario after he was brilliantly put through in the penalty area with plenty of space by Matty Cash but he couldn’t find Ollie Watkins.
In an end-to-end fixture in Birmingham, Newcastle went up the other end and almost took the lead when Anthony Gordon was played through on goal, his shot was saved by Emiliano Martinez before Isak saw another attempt go well wide.
Diaby was again played through by Tielemans but instead of shooting with his right foot, he looked to pass which was cleared by Newcastle and manager Emery certainly won’t be happy with his player’s indecisiveness in attack.
Newcastle took the lead after Fabian Schar made the most of some torrid defending from Aston Villa from a corner meeting Kieran Trippier’s cross on the half-volley.
Schar added a second for the Magpies, latching on for a rebound after Gordon’s fierce shot came back off the crossbar.
The Villa summer signing has been inconsistent in recent weeks for the club.
In his last 10 games in all competitions for the Villans, he’s only managed one goal (SofaScore) which could certainly arouse questions for Emery as to why he continues to pick him in the team.
In a game where Aston Villa desperately needed to be clinical and ruthless in attack, Diaby certainly let his team down with a wasteful display in the final third.
As per SofaScore, Diaby only touched the ball just ten times, completed just 70 per cent of his passes, failed to complete a single dribble, and also failed to win any of his duels in a disastrous showing in attack.
With Leon Bailey waiting in the wings on the bench and tasted some much better form in the past month or so, Emery must drag off the Frenchman if the Villans are to have any chance of clawing themselves back in this one.
In other Aston Villa news, one 96% Villa Park ace is set for increased responsibility after recent comments from Emery.
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