Unai Emery has an interesting headache to try and manage at Aston Villa.
After Villa went winless after eight matches, things are now starting to pick up and everything is looking on the up during this hectic winter period.
That was proven as Villa beat RB Leipzig 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday night to move into the top-eight places.
Even though John McGinn opened the scoring after three minutes, Emery watched his team make hard work of it all after letting two leads slip.
But it was a story of the subs, with Jhon Duran scoring again and Ross Barkley netting the winner five minutes from time for Aston Villa.
Thierry Henry was one of the greatest strikers to have played the game and he wanted to give the men fighting it out at the top for a starting spot their flowers.
Thierry Henry lauds Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran as Aston Villa beat RB Leipzig
Watkins is still searching for his first Champions League goal – two have already been ruled out for offside – but his performances overall have been outstanding.
Henry wanted to mention that and the part he played for the opening goal when he cushioned the ball down for McGinn to score.
MORE VILLA STORIES
Before he stated ‘oh, blimey’ to Duran’s wonder strike from distance, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (10/12/24 at 10:45 pm).
“Yes, opening goal from John McGinn, but you have to give a lot of credit to Watkins,” said Henry. “What he does there is that he doesn’t try to score.
“It would have been difficult for him to score there, but he is aware of the run of John McGinn and he just gives him the ball. Right into his path to score. So, yes, McGinn scored. But Watkins did a lot there.
On Duran’s goal: “Oh, blimey,” responded Henry as the Duran goal was being replayed again. “He knew (on Duran placing it because the keeper was off his line).”
Jhon Duran of Aston Villa scores his team's second goal past Peter Gulacsi of RB Leipzig (not pictured) during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Le...
Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Watkins v Duran stats for Villa
Emery has a headache as to who to pick between the two, but what a headache to have!
Whoever you start, you can trust to perform and score, then you have Duran showing time and time again that he has this knack of scoring from the bench.
And with Villa having to deal with high-profile games every few days, the manager can rotate the two, keep them fresh and that then boosts the team’s chances going forward.
As posted by Transfermarkt, Duran has more goals than Watkins, but the latter has five more assists.
Competition Apps Goals Assists Minutes
Premier League Premier League 15 7 3
UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League 6 – 2
Competition Apps Goals Assists Minutes
Premier League Premier League 15 5 –
UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League 6 3 –
EFL Cup EFL Cup 2 2 –
Related Posts