Aston Villa: Nicolo Zaniolo must be let go despite 100% display v West Ham United
Aston Villa remain in a strong position to secure a top-four Premier League finish after their draw with West Ham.
Unai Emery’s side currently occupy fourth place in the table following their 1-1 stalemate at the London Stadium on Sunday (17 March).
And the point was secured from a rare source, with loanee Nicolo Zaniolo scoring an equaliser after Michail Antonio had put the hosts ahead.
The Villa attacker entered the pitch as a 63rd-minute substitute for Morgan Rogers, before finding the back of the net in the 79th minute after being found by fellow substitute Moussa Diaby.
Zaniolo may have just two Premier League goals from 20 appearances, but both could be crucial, with the attacker having also scored a key goal in the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United in December, again from the bench.
He deserves plenty of credit, as does Emery for his decision making in East London, with only Liverpool (22), Arsenal (18) and Newcastle (18) having had more goal involvements from substitutes in the Premier League this season than Aston Villa (17), as per the official Premier League website (17 March).
The goal certainly caught the attention of Stephen Warnock, with the pundit saying on BBC Match of the Day 2 (17 March): “When he came on, straight away he was affecting the game, going past people, driving, trying to make things happen.”
Aston Villa can definitely afford to lose Nicolo Zaniolo
Zaniolo did have a successful impact on the match, but he is still not as strong as he needs to be under Emery.
As per Sofascore, the Italian did score with his only shot on target (100%), but at the same time made two fouls, won just four of his nine duels, completed just one of his three dribble attempts and registered a very poor 58% passing accuracy.
Villa do have the option to buy the loanee from Galatasaray at the end of the season, but Emery would be wise not to take up that option.
Zaniolo has just three goals from his 31 Aston Villa appearances, well behind the likes of fellow attackers Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey, while Morgan Rogers has only just been added to the squad.
In other Aston Villa news, a former Villa Park employee has mooted a senior star exit, with an Arsenal transfer claim made.
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