Jhon Duran forces Unai Emery hand after what he did for Aston Villa
Jhon Duran was superb as an Aston Villa substitute once again in the Champions League win against Young Boys on Tuesday (17 September).
The Villans secured their first three points in the league phase of Europe’s elite competition with a 3-0 win in Bern.
Goals from Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana were enough after Ollie Watkins and Duran had strikes ruled out for handball.
The Colombia international was unfortunate after starting and finishing a move with a crisp finish leaving Lee Hendrie to praise him live on Sky Sports News (17 September, 7:26pm)
He said: “It’s a superb goal. This guy is on absolute flames at the moment.”
Jhon Duran shines again for Aston Villa v Young Boys
The 20-year-old came on for an injured Watkins with 30 minutes to go and got involved in the action immediately.
This saw him accumulate 13 touches of the ball with four of those coming inside in the opposition penalty area [FotMob].
Although he couldn’t make this count to get on the scoresheet, the Colombian still made the most of his time on the ball, taking three shots and having one blocked.
Duran has certainly improved with the ball at his feet, making three passes with a 50 per cent pass accuracy, one of those being his superb switch before his eventual ruled-out goal.
He ended the game with an expected goals value of 0.12, meaning he outperformed his xG in Switzerland.
Emery will have been pleased to see him get involved defensively as he won two duels and also tracked back to make one interception.
Given his form at the start of the new campaign, it will be disappointing to the former Chicago Fire youngster that he didn’t get on the scoresheet.
There is so much to admire about the striker and how much of an impact he is having which his manager will want to see more of week-on-week.
Considering how few Villa fans wanted him during the window, the Spanish manager has done so well to show faith and get the most out of the number nine.
But while it is all well and good being considered a super sub, Emery’s hand may well be forced as the striker is desperate to now start matches.
In other Aston Villa news, one star has left a pundit amazed with an ‘outstanding’ showing against Young Boys.
For more Aston Villa news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.