Unai Emery will love one aspect of Youri Tielemans' 'tireless' 8/10 Belgium display - here's what

Aston Villa ace Youri Tielemans excelled as Belgium hammered the United States at the World Cup.

The Red Devils were fired up for the clash in Seattle amid the backlash over the decision to allow Folarin Balogun to have his ban suspended for a year.

Belgium used their frustration to turn on the style in a 4-1 victory on Tuesday morning, which sets up a quarter-final tie with Spain.

Charles De Ketelaere scored twice, while Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku were also on target in the comprehensive rout.

It means Tielemans' World Cup adventure continues, at least for a few more days, as he dreams of lifting the trophy with his country.

And there is one tactical aspect Unai Emery will have loved, which came about as his Aston Villa team-mate Amadou Onana was injured.

Youri Tielemans offers Unai Emery Aston Villa solutions

Onana had plenty of injury troubles last season, contending with hamstring and knee injuries.

He was impressing in the heart of Belgium's midfield before an innocuous duel with Christian Pulisic, and he had to be substituted.

That a direct impact on Tielemans, who went from featuring in a more advanced role, to a deeper-lying playmaker role.

It was something that was noticed by the Belgian media, with VoetbalNieuws scoring Tielemans an 8/10 for his performance.

"He started the match in an advanced role and, in that capacity, provided the necessary threat," they wrote.

"Due to Onana's injury, Tielemans had to drop back a line sooner. But that certainly did not diminish his performance.

"Seemingly tireless, he took the team by the hand on both sides of the pitch like a true captain. Since the altercation with Trossard against Segenal, Tielemans has been playing at an incredibly high level."

It is that tactical flexibility that will delight Emery, not least because Onana could be out for the foreseeable future.

Midfield was a real problem area for Villa last term as the injuries racked up, but Tielemans' ability to play several roles will give Emery options if Onana is sidelined.

VoetbalBlad did point out an early missed opportunity, but still scored Tielemans a 7/10 and added: "Missed an absolute sitter around the penalty spot. Played well in the game, with lots of ball recoveries too."

Tielemans steps up after Onana injury

Tielemans prefers to be on the ball, set the tempo, and display his excellent range of passing.

But the 29-year-old showed his defensive nous after Onana went off injury, too.

He finished the game with two successful tackles out of three attempted, and made six recoveries to ensure Belgium kept ticking with the ball.

Additionally, he won four out of seven ground duels, and came out on top in the one aerial duel he contested.

Going forward, Tielemans still tried to impact play, and had one accurate cross from two attempted, and registered one key pass.

He completed 34 of 41 passes (83 per cent), including completing 100 per cent (25/25) in his own half.

There was much to admire about his performance, but Emery will especially love the adaptibility he showed. He might just need to show it for Villa too.