Youri Tielemans gestures during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Manchester City
Youri Tielemans gestures during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Manchester City
Match of the Day pundit Ashley Williams hailed Aston Villa’s midfield for being the catalyst for their victory over Manchester City.
Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers gave Villa a 2-1 victory over the reigning Premier League champions on Saturday to inflict more misery on Pep Guardiola. City have lost nine of their last 12 games in all competition and are making a mess of their title defence.
Villa, meanwhile, have now won three of their last four league games to reignite their top four hopes and move ahead of City in the table.
Former Swansea City and Everton defender Williams, who was born and raised in the West Midlands, was complimentary of Villa’s midfield in his analysis on Match of the Day. The four-man midfield of Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn, plus number 10 Morgan Rogers, proved key to Villa’s latest three points in the Premier League.
READ: What Grealish did to McGinn proves Emery right as Duran sends Villa message
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“I think the game was won in midfield,” Williams said. “Kamara, Rogers, Onana, Tielemans and McGinn were superb. They played so close together and they worked so hard, they just swarmed Manchester City.
“If it wasn’t Kamara, it was Onana winning the tackle and it allowed them to release each other in possession as well. They always had a pass free straight away because they worked so closely together.”
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