Aston Villa star does something amazed Jamie Carragher has never seen on a football field
Jamie Carragher was taken aback by Morgan Rogers in Aston Villa’s 3-2 victory over West Ham on Sunday at the London Stadium.
Football’s a funny game. Earlier in the season, Rogers was receiving pelters for his performances, and now he looks like one of the best players in the world.
Rogers scored a brace against West Ham to help Unai Emery‘s side extend their incredible win streak to nine in a row, keeping Villa in third place in the Premier League.
The England international has single-handedly carried Villa at times in recent weeks, and deserves all the credit coming his way.
But Carragher was impressed in particular with one moment of magic that the forward produced versus the Hammers, which he described as “special”.
Jamie Carragher stunned by Morgan Rogers long-range strike
Who would’ve thought that Rogers would turn into a regular England starter when Aston Villa bought him from Middlesbrough last year?
He possesses one of the most unique ball-carrying abilities in the league, but is expanding his quality in scoring goals from long-distance.
Against West Ham, Rogers’ winning strike had an expected goal (xG) rate of just 0.04 – that’s ludicrous, and Carragher’s reaction says it all.
- Rogers had five shots versus West Ham
- He accumulated 0.63 xG but still managed to score twice
- Rogers completed the most dribbles in the match with three
- He recorded a 100% long ball rate after completing all four attempts
- The 23-year-old also won six of his ground duels
While speaking live on Sky Sports on Sunday, Carragher couldn’t help but replay Rogers’ second goal, and was left completely in awe of the technique used.
Carragher said: “That technique again, in free play, is what makes this so special. We’ve seen this before from other players on free-kicks, but in free play I’ve not seen it before.”
The Englishman has traits that no other player for Emery has, and he’s truly Villa’s diamond.
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Rogers is leading the charts for overperforming in front of goal
Villa managed to pen Rogers down for a new deal that will see him remain at B6 until 3031, in arguably the club’s second-best piece of business in recent times, after his initial signing.
The goals against West Ham take him into double figures for goal contributions already this season, and we’re not even at the halfway point.
He is comfortably the standout player in the Premier League for overperforming in terms of xG.
Aston Villa Statto on X said: “Morgan Rogers is outperforming his expected goals by +3.4xG so far this season, the largest overperformance of any player in the competition this season. Banger, after banger, after banger.
How Villa ever got this lucky in getting Rogers before anyone else is a mystery, but Emery deserves major credit for what he’s done with the attacker.
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