Aston Villa must utilise goalscorer Jhon Duran more in second half vs Crystal Palace
Aston Villa must get the ball to Jhon Duran more in the second half if they are to beat Crystal Palace and progress in the EFL Cup.
Duran has been in fine form this season for Villa and has so far continued that with another goalscoring performance against Crystal Palace.
His consistent performances have earned him interest from the likes of Arsenal and he continued to impress in the opening 45 minutes against Palace, where the score was locked at 1-1 at half-tome at Villa Park.
The Colombian brought his team back on level terms after Ebere Eze opened the scoring and has impressed throughout the first half.
Jhon Duran can be the gamechanger for Aston Villa
Duran scored with his first shot of the game, slipping a shot under the hands of Matt Turner who will have been disappointed to be beaten.
According to FotMob, Duran has recorded a 100 per cent shot accuracy in the first half, testing Turner with his second effort from a tight angle.
The goal had an xG (expected goals) of just 0.08.
His game has gone far beyond his attacking abilities with the Colombian also winning four of his five duels.
The Villa man has constantly been looking to make runs in behind the Palace defence and Unai Emery’s side have failed to find him on several occasions.
Four of his 17 touches in the first half have come inside the penalty area, one of which resulted in the equalising goal.
One area Duran can certainly improve is his passing. So far he has completed just 64 per cent of his 11 attempted passes.
If Villa are to have any chance of progressing in the cup tonight, they have to start utilising his movement more and get the ball behind the Palace defence.
In other Aston Villa news, Marc Albrighton has returned “home” to Aston Villa as an academy coach, according to John Percy of The Telegraph.
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