Aston Villa: Ally McCoist loved what ‘Brilliant’ Jhon Duran after what he did v Manchester City
Jhon Duran turned in a top performance for Aston Villa despite the team falling to a 4-1 defeat to champions Manchester City on Wednesday night (3 April).
City took an early lead through Rodri before Duran linked up with January signing Morgan Rogers just eight minutes later to equaliser with a fine finish. Villa couldn’t hold on though as Phil Foden netted a free-kick on the stroke of half-time to restore the home side’s lead and then added a second on the hour to seal the points.
But it was the Colombian striker whose goal was the pick of the bunch, and TNT Sports commentator Ally McCoist was quick to praise the 20-year-old for his strike while live on air (3 April, 20:34).
“That technique is fantastic,” he said.
“Beautiful give-and-go and that finish is excellent. Brilliant finish.”
With Ollie Watkins missing the game through injury, there were question marks about how Unai Emery’s side would cope – with Duran having scored just once in 19 games prior to his trip to the Etihad.
But the youngster showed why he is so highly rated at Villa Park with a top performance, in particular in the first half, and proved he is a more than able deputy to the England striker when called upon.
Does Jhon Duran deserve more starts for Aston Villa?
While Watkins has no doubt been the player of the season this year for the Villans, Duran hasn’t really been given enough of an opportunity to prove himself as an able member of the squad.
But against the toughest opposition around, he has proven that he can do the job that the manager requires of his attackers.
According to Sofascore Duran won 2/5 aerial duels, completed 11/14 passes and scored his goal from his only shot of the game which had an xG of just 0.20, giving him a 100% conversion rate during his 71 minutes of play.
He was constantly on the run too to stretch the Man City defensive line and cause Ruben Dias problems with his pace and movement, while he also wasn’t afraid to help out defensively where he made one interception too.
That type of all-round display is the type to earn you more opportunities, and while he won’t displace Watkins from the starting lineup it could help to lessen the load across the squad.
In other Aston Villa news, Lee Hendrie praised one Villa star after he “ruffled some feathers” versus Man City.
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