Lee Hendrie slams Aston Villa duo after what ‘Nuisance’ Brighton player did
Lee Hendrie has slammed Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres for their defending after Aston Villa conceded against Brighton in the first half of Monday’s Premier League contest.
Unai Emery’s side took on an out-of-form Brighton (30 December) as they looked to get themselves back on track after a 3-0 loss against Newcastle United on Boxing Day.
Although they were able to get back into it in the first-half, it was Brighton who took the lead in the game after just 12 minutes with Simon Adingra scoring before Tariq Lamptery gained his side a point in the 82nd minute.
Speaking live on commentary for Premier League Productions (30 December, 8:03pm), Hendrie slammed Konsa and Torrest for not doing better as he said: “Yeah, it’s just not dealt with.
“I mean it’s a direct pass and Emery talks about both sides wanting to play football, this is just a routine direct pass into space around Joao Pedro.
“He’s a nuisance but he just draws the two centre, the centre-halves out and Ezri Konsa just tucked inside there and they just don’t deal with it.
“But credit to Adingra, he does. He picks up the pieces and has that first touch, it’s a big first touch as well and then composes himself and just bends it in that far corner.
“Poor defending from Aston Villa, really is. You can see there Konsa and Torres just not dealing with it.
“Adingra does deal with it, he sticks it in the back of the net to put Brighton 1-0 up.”
Brighton early goal means a point only for Aston Villa
At Villa Park, Emery will have been disappointed that his side went one goal down so quickly into the game and especially in the manner that they did.
The Villans are a team made up of talented players but in the moment they let a quality player in Pedro have too much space which allowed their opponents to score.
With Konsa and Torres seemingly struggling with the simple things in this instance, it reiterates how important it is for Emery’s side to find their consistency this season and ensure they are able to get the basics right.
As Hendrie says, the Brighton players deserve some credit for their role in the goal but it was largely defensive woes that led to the home side conceding in this case.
Villa showed their quality in the end and did well to not get knocked by the early goal and get back into the game. However, conceding in the 82nd minute means Emery’s side came away with just a point in the end and had they started the game tighter, this may not have happened.
In other Aston Villa news, the club swoop in for a potential deal from Brazil.
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