Unai Emery buzzing as Matty Cash thrives in Aston Villa experiment v RB Leipzig
Unai Emery will be over the moon after his Aston Villa side conquered German giants RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The 3-2 victory at the Red Bull Arena on 10 December saw the Villans rise to third in the new league table, taking 13 points from their first six matches, only five points behind leaders Liverpool.
Emery can take a lot of joy out of his side’s display, even despite some of the horrific defending at some important moments in the game, and one of his experiments clearly worked out.
The starting XI to face Leipzig was quite a normal lineup for the Champions League fixture, that was until many spotted Matty Cash playing as a right-winger in front of Ezri Konsa at right-back.
The 27-year-old, who has been in and out of the lineup this season, raised several eyebrows but the manager will feel his decision has now been vindicated following his 71 minutes on the pitch.
Speaking post-match [Jacob Tanswell via X], Emery said: “I decided to use Cash as defending low but attacking high. He played at the beginning of his career as a winger. His work was fantastic.”
Matty Cash experiment pays off in Aston Villa win v RB Leipzig
With the amount of attacking talent in the German team, it will have been important for Emery to have a rock-solid back-four, which meant having Konsa at right-back.
Cash offered just a little more defence in front of him down the right flank and his attacking abilities certainly came in handy in the 3-2 win at the Red Bull Arena.
The 27-year-old was a nuisance all night, hitting the target with 50 per cent of his shots, creating an xG of 0.34, making two passes into the final third and even attempting a dribble [FotMob].
He also completed 100 per cent of his crosses and long balls, won 100 per cent of his tackles, made two clearances and entered into five ground duels.
With Konsa winning 100 per cent of his tackles and 75 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob], Cash was allowed to roam free down the right flank and cause trouble for the Leipzig defence.
In other Aston Villa news, Unai Emery faces a nervous wait after one of his stars suffered a “small injury” ahead of the Nottingham Forest clash.
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