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55 touches, 3 key passes: 8/10 Aston Villa star just proved he can be the new Grealish - opinion

Aston Villa fans will hope their side's eight-match winless run can be quickly forgotten about now, after Unai Emery's men returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion by overcoming Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Thomas Frank's Bees are no pushovers, but Villa managed to race into a convincing three-goal lead in the first 45 minutes to never look back, with the much-needed victory meaning the Villans are now only three points off the top four spots in the Premier League.

unai-emery-arsenal-premier-league

Emery would have been delighted with the performances of many star individuals on the night, as the likes of Ollie Watkins returned back to their best in the confidence-boosting win.

Aston Villa's standout performers vs Brentford

Watkins wouldn't just fire home a penalty during the duration of his sparkling 65 minutes on the Villa Park turf, with the former Bees man also assisting the opener on the night that set the stuttering side on their way to the three points.

The England international would also miss a big chance amongst his six shots on the busy Brentford net, as the Villa number 11 operated as a hard-to-contain menace again, after struggling for large patches during his team's poor run of form.

Ollie-Watkins-1

Matty Cash would also get in on the goalscoring act late into the first 45 minutes, managing to sneak in an effort past Mark Flekken to secure the win.

He would also register eight successful duels to keep the likes of Bryan Mbeumo at arm's length, with Tyrone Mings also playing like a colossus defensively himself with six duels won of his own accord.

Tyrone-Mings

The star that stole the show from Villa's perspective was Morgan Rogers though, who opened the scoring in the 3-1 win with a stunning curled effort, as Emery's decision to play him down the left more than paid off.

With the 22-year-old capable of stunning down the left wing - or playing more centrally - he could be slowly transforming into the club's next Jack Grealish off the back of this top display.

Aston Villa's new Jack Grealish

Donning a brand-new bleach blonde look for the Wednesday night affair, Rogers would let his football do the talking over any discussion about his fresh hair-do, with plenty to shout about away from his sumptuous opener.

With John McGinn picked in the number ten role, Rogers had more freedom to maraud forward with intent down the left channel, amassing two successful dribbles subsequently.

Rogers' numbers vs Brentford

Stat

Minutes played

Goals scored

Assists

Touches

Shots

Accurate passes

Key passes

Successful dribbles

Stats by Sofascore

Away from attempting to make things happen himself with dribbles and shots galore, the table above also shows off the tricky attacker's unselfish side, with three key passes accumulated from his 55 touches of the ball to try and play others into the entertaining contest.

Birmingham Live journalist John Townley would wax lyrical about the former Manchester City youngster at full-time in his post-match ratings, dishing out a deserved 8/10 rating to the electric number 27, with his strike on the night labelled as a 'pearler'.

Grealish was also more than capable of firing home a memorable strike when he was donning a Villa strip, with the now Man City man an icon to this day at Villa Park with a total of 32 goals and 41 assists notched up from 213 outings for his boyhood employers.

Rogers is some way off that amount, with ten goal contributions managed from 32 games, but he could go on to be a similar maverick like Grealish if he keeps up these stunning performances this campaign and beyond.

Morgan-Rogers

He could well become another modern day great, but Emery will just want the Villa star to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground with games coming thick and fast in December, knowing he will be crucial to his team's attempts to surge back up the table.

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