‘Class’ Aston Villa star showered with praise after genius Unai Emery decision vs Basel
Aston Villa continued their excellent form in the Europa League with a 2-1 win against Basel on Thursday night.
Evann Guessand’s clever finish opened the scoring for Aston Villa in the 12th minute before Basel equalised on the stroke of half-time after Xherdan Shaqiri’s teasing delivery was flicked home by Flavius Daniliuc.
Unai Emery would have been livid that the visitors conceded an avoidable goal after Ezri Konsa flew into a tackle when there was no danger.
But an inspired half-time change from the Spaniard ensured that Villa secured a 2-1 victory over Basel, even though the Swiss giants were dangerous.
Youri Tielemans made the difference for Aston Villa vs Basel
Emery decided to substitute Matty Cash at half-time after he was shown a yellow card, bringing on Youri Tielemans in his place and moving Lamare Bogarde into the right-back position.
The introduction of Tielemans saw the visitors gain more control in the match, utilising his class on the ball to dictate and sweep home an excellent finish eight minutes after coming onto the pitch.
| Youri Tielemans stats vs Basel |
| 50 minutes played |
| 24/26 accurate passes (92%) |
| 33 touches |
| 1 goal |
| 3/3 ground duels won |
| 1/1 aerial duels won |
Speaking about his finish on TNT Sports commentary, Andy Townsend said: “What a goal. Tielemans has just got a bit of class about him.
“Buendia does brilliantly to get his body in the way and the temptation for Tielemans is to hit it. He just places it and that is absolutely what you would expect of Youri Tielemans.”
Tielemans, who was incredible in the win over Arsenal, changed the complexion of the game with his ability to dictate the tempo, and Emery deserves huge credit.
- Read More: Gabby Agbonlahor reveals what he’s been told about Aston Villa transfers as ‘billions available’
Unai Emery is proactive and not reactive
Emery saw that Villa were struggling to keep hold of the ball, so instead of waiting until after half-time, he fixed the problem straight away.
The Belgian maestro is Aston Villa’s best ball-playing midfielder, and he can change a game in an instant, something he did against Basel.
Of course, Emery wanted to rest the 28-year-old in this game after his efforts in the victory over Arsenal, but was correct to introduce him at half-time.
Thanks to Tielemans, Villa remained joint-top in the Europa League table, edging closer to guaranteeing their place in the knockout stages.
Enjoyed this article? Stay connected with all the latest Aston Villa news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content by following us on our new Instagram account – @villanews247