How Aston Villa's Aaron Wan-Bissaka almost made DR Congo history vs Equatorial Guinea
Aston Villa loanee Aaron Wan-Bissaka was in action for DR Congo on Thursday evening.
The 28-year-old earned his 17th cap for Congo as they began their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Equatorial Guinea.
Wan-Bissaka's side ran out 2-0 winners over Juan Micha's men, with goals coming from Chancel Mbemba and Newcastle's Yoane Wissa.
The Villa defender left Unai Emery's squad to join his international teammates just as he was starting to threaten Matty Cash's starting right-back role.
Indeed, he's started all of the Villains' last four games in all competitions, but was withdrawn at half-time against Tottenham last time out.
His display for his country on Thursday, however, will have sent a strong message to Unai Emery that he belongs in his XI.
How close did Aaron Wan-Bissaka come to scoring in Congo vs Equatorial Guinea?
After both he and Congo enjoyed a superb World Cup, Wan-Bissaka has established himself as a key player for his country.
So, it was no surprise to see him named in Sebastien Desabre's starting lineup for the visit of Equatorial Guinea.
He played the full 90 minutes in the 2-0 victory, and he almost wrote his own piece of Congo history too.
As detailed in a report from Benin Web TV, Wan-Bissaka rattled the crossbar just before the half-time whistle blew.
The Villa defender has never scored for his country, and so this will've been agonising for him to see, but his overall performance certainly made up for it.
Per FotMob, he completed 95 per cent of his 44 pass attempts successfully, had two shots on goal and completed two of his three dribble attempts.
Wan-Bissaka also played three passes into the final third, took 58 touches, won six ground duels, three tackles and made four recoveries.
But not only was his performance excellent by the numbers, where he was deployed also hints at his ability to play a different role for Aston Villa.
Where did Wan-Bissaka play in Congo vs Equatorial Guinea?
A right-back by trade, Wan-Bissaka is very rarely seen being deployed anywhere else but down the right flank.
The full-back position is where he's solely been seen operating from in an Aston Villa shirt so far this season.
However, for Congo on Thursday night, the former Manchester United man was still playing on the right, but not as a full-back.
Instead, Desabre had him starting as the right-sided centre-back in a back three, with Watford's Edo Kayembe being pushed on at right wing-back.
With Emery's options somewhat limited in central defence, this could be an ideal way to get both Cash and Wan-Bissaka in the same starting lineup.