Emery must axe Lucas Digne after what he did in Aston Villa v Manchester City
Unai Emery must axe Lucas Digne from the Aston Villa starting lineup next week after his howler of a performance in the 2-1 win against Manchester City.
The Villans returned to winning ways against the English champions at Villa Park on Saturday [21 December] with the “absolutely magnificent” Morgan Rogers at the centre of the action.
However, not all Aston Villa players pulled their weight on the day, with Digne, in particular, allowing Manchester City a lifeline in the dying embers of the contest.
With Ian Maatsen waiting in the wings in Birmingham, Emery should consider selecting the Dutchman over Digne for the trip to Newcastle United on Boxing Day.
Lucas Digne drops a stinker for Aston Villa v Manchester City
While Aston Villa eventually secured a monumental three points against the English champions, the final minutes at Villa Park proved to be a nervy encounter.
With the victory secure and Villa well in the driving seat, Phil Foden’s effort in the 90th-minute deflected into the path of Digne, who failed to get control of the ball, lost his footing and allowed the Englishman to half the deficit.
The incident summed up the Frenchman’s afternoon in the Midlands as he only had two tackles to show for his defensive efforts after losing 100 per cent of his aerial duels and was dribbled past once by Foden, leading to his one error for the Manchester City goal [Sofascore].
Furthermore, his usual impressive offensive output was neutralised – he completed only 81 per cent of his 36 passing attempts, completed only 33 per cent of his crosses, lost possession 13 times and was caught offside once as nothing went his way at Villa Park.
His efforts, of course, had no detrimental effect on the outcome of the result but his display proved to be a serious cause of concern and the Manchester City of past would undoubtedly have capitalised on his shoddy outing.
The Villans have overtaken Pep Guardiola’s men to claim fifth place in the Premier League after the win and remain firmly in the hunt for a top four finish with only a three-point gap to Nottingham Forest in fourth.
However, with a tough test up next at St James Park, Emery cannot afford his players not pulling their weight in the North East, and the Spaniard should consider himself lucky Digne could not inflict more damage to his teammates and subsequently exclude him from the starting lineup for the clash on Thursday [26 December].
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Shearer hails one ‘superb’ Villa star after what John Stones did for Man City.
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