‘Really bad’ Aston Villa star torn to shreds on Match of the Day as Bournemouth footage emerges
Aston Villa’s spot in the Premier League title race has shown signs of fading away after their 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Morgan Rogers scored his 10th goal of the season in all competitions to put the Villans ahead in the 22nd minute after an assist from Jadon Sancho.
However, Bournemouth’s new signing Rayan earned Andoni Iraola’s men a point when he netted in the 55th minute.
The 19-year-old now has a goal and an assist in his first two appearances for the Cherries after signing as Antoine Semenyo’s replacement from Vasco da Gama in January.
But, according to Danny Murphy, Villa made it all too easy for the Brazilian wonderkid to grab a goal on his home debut.
- Read more: Aston Villa player ratings vs Bournemouth
Danny Murphy slams Lucas Digne defending
That’s because Murphy was less than impressed by Lucas Digne‘s defending in the build-up to the goal.
Digne had already been slammed by Simon Thomas and Michael Dawson on Sky Sports News for his role in conceding to Bournemouth.
Even though he’s an experienced Premier League full-back, the 32-year-old Frenchman seemed frazzled by Rayan running at him, and almost looked as though he just let him past him on purpose.
It was a terrible piece of defensive play, and it was called out by Murphy on Match of the Day.
| Lucas Digne | |
| Minutes played | 86 |
| Tackles (won) | 5 (4) |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Clearances | 5 |
| Ground duels (won) | 10 (6) |
| Dribbled past | 2 |
| Errors leading to goal | 1 |
| Sofascore rating | 6.4 |
Speaking on Saturday night, Murphy said: “I mean, this is really bad defending, but still, [Rayan] shows pace, power, positivity and the finish there on his so-called weaker foot will do him the world of good.
“To score in your first full game for the club, you get the fans onboard.”
Alan Shearer gives Aston Villa title race verdict
As mentioned, Aston Villa‘s faint title ambitions took a blow on the south coast on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s men are in third place, level on points with second-place Manchester City. However, Pep Guardiola’s side take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday so they can move clear of the Villans.
Arsenal, on the other hand, won against Sunderland and are now nine points ahead of the chasing pack.
More worryingly for Villa, Manchester United are on a roll and are now three points behind them in fourth, while Chelsea also have a new manager bounce and are four points behind the West Midlands club in fifth.
According to Alan Shearer, Villa’s aim now should be to just try and stay in the top five so they can secure Champions League football next season.
He said: “I still think they’re punching well above their weight and if they can get into the top-five and get Champions League football, that will be a very, very good season for them.”