Aston Villa: Ezri Konsa shines in ‘magnificent’ defensive showing v Lille
Ezri Konsa has been lauded for his performance for Aston Villa against Lille as they secured a place in the Conference League semi-final.
Unai Emery has guided the Villans to a European semi-final for the first time since 1982 thanks to a controversial penalty shootout win.
Villa took a 2-1 lead into the clash at the Decathlon Arena (18 April). That was cancelled out by the 67th minute as Yusuf Yazici and Benjamin Andre got on the scoresheet.
Matty Cash brought the tie level with just minutes remaining which, after extra time, resulted in penalties. Despite some questionable moments with Emi Martinez, Villa were victorious.
Despite some key performances, Sky Sports picked out Konsa for his performances and named him as Player of the Match.
They said: “Ezri Konsa was magnificent up against Lille dangerman Jonathan David.”
How did Ezri Konsa perform for Aston Villa v Lille?
It wasn’t a classic performance by any means as the home side had more possession which they converted into chances.
According to FotMob, Paulo Fonseca’s side had 52 per cent of the ball and created opportunities to the tune of 1.47 xG.
With that being said, it could have been very different if Konsa had not been on top of his game on the night.
He featured across the whole 120 minutes and he made 96 passes with a 93 per cent success rate. 116 touches, according to FotMob, just summed up his importance in build-up play.
Defensively is where the Englishman excelled. He completed 100 per cent of his tackles while making a block, seven clearances and an interception.
As well as this he was unbeaten in 100 per cent of duels with four ground and one aerial won by Konsa.
It was a great defensive performance which will make it all the more frustrating that the Villans conceded two.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery risks “annoying” some Villa stars with a new Douglas Luiz selection call against Lille
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