Stephen Warnock blown away by what ‘perfect’ Moussa Diaby did for Aston Villa v Wolves
Aston Villa will have been eager to get back to winning ways in the Premier League immediately after the international break and they did exactly that against Wolves.
Unai Emery’s side brushed off any suggestions they weren’t ready to mount a serious push for the Champions League places this term with a comfortable 2-0 win over their local rivals on Saturday (30 March).
While Ezri Konsa was on the receiving end of plenty of praise for his excellent performance from defence, BBC Sport pundit Stephen Warnock was blown away by a “perfect” display from Moussa Diaby.
Speaking on Match of the Day (30 March, 47:50) he said: “I wish I’d have played with him. What he is, is he’s super intelligent with his movement and his understanding of what to do on the pitch.
“That’s the danger that he possesses. It’s all about concentration on this strike. He doesn’t do much in the process of getting in that position, but what he does is he makes sure he makes great contact.
“The power, the precision is perfect.”
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Diaby may not have had the best of starts to his Villa career, but Saturday’s win showed the magic that he is capable of. The 24-year-old only had 24 touches in his 88 minutes of action but he made almost every single one count, according to Fotmob.
Only two of those touches came in Wolves’ penalty area, but the Frenchman still managed to create two goalscoring chances for his teammates in claret and blue even though he only completed 77 per cent of his 13 attempted passes.
His strike to break the deadlock in the first half left Jose Sa with next to no chance of saving it as he excellently curled the effort away from the keeper despite the chance only registering a small xG of 0.07.
When compared to other wingers in the Premier League this season, Diaby places in the 42nd percentile for his xG compared to goals scored, meaning on average he underperforms his xG by 0.01 every 90 minutes, according to Fbref.
His strike against Gary O’Neil’s side showed that he can add that clinical edge to his game that made him so ruthless in the Bundesliga.
Barring his goal and the assist for Konsa’s strike, it was a fairly quiet afternoon for Diaby as he only completed 50 per cent of his attempted dribbles, misplaced his only attempted cross and failed to win any of his attempted tackles.
On top of that, the winger only managed to win 33 per cent of his six attempted ground duels and gave away a free-kick without winning a single foul himself before he was replaced in the closing exchanges.
However, there have been few forwards in the Premier League as ruthless in possession as the 24-year-old this term. Currently, he sits in the 95th percentile of his peers for progressive carries per 90 minutes, with an average of 3.85 a match.
Diaby also helps Emery’s side get into the opposition box repeatedly as he currently places in the 10 per cent of players for carries into the penalty area this term. With him in the team, Villa look like a more direct and threatening opponent.
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While statistically, it wasn’t Diaby’s best performance in a Villa shirt, it was arguably one that showed exactly why Emery was so keen to sign the Frenchman this summer.
Despite only having 24 touches, the 24-year-old produced the two moments of magic which were the difference between the two sides. In the race for Champions League football, those moments are crucial and few can produce them as regularly as Diaby.
Between now and the end of the season, the winger has to be undroppable in the Premier League. His display on Saturday has proved any doubters he did have wrong.
In other Aston Villa news, Villa have been tipped “to look” at a potential double summer transfer swoop in La Liga
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