Tempers fray between Scotland's Lewis Ferguson and Switzerland's Johan Manzambi
Tempers fray between Scotland's Lewis Ferguson and Switzerland's Johan Manzambi(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire. Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder)
Just as Johan Manzambi seemed to be experiencing lift-off in his Aston Villa career, it seems Switzerland are the main beneficiaries.
The attacking midfielder, who in July arrived from Freiburg for a reported £59.5million, missed Villa’s first five games with a knee injury.
He made his debut off the bench against Nottingham Forest and his first start in the final match before the international break when he produced a goal, an assist and a hugely encouraging performance in the 3-2 win at Tottenham.
Unai Emery would no doubt have loved to have kept the 20-year-old at Bodymoor Heath to continue his development – instead Manzambi has spent the last fortnight playing for the Swiss national team.
Not only playing, but starting all three of their games so far as he was on the pitch for the for the first hours of the wins over North Macedonia and Scotland and whole game as they beat Slovenia 2-1.
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It seems the Villa man has been taking his share of the rough stuff too. He was fouled four times on Saturday, four times against the Scots and twice in North Macedonia, when both Bojan Ilievski and Matej Gashtarov were booked for tackles on him.
Vanja Drkusic was also cautioned for fouling Manzambi at the weekend all of which prompted Switzerland boss Murat Yakin to ask referees to protect his star man, with quotes in Blick, carried by Sport Witness: “It’s part of Johan’s style of play to draw fouls with his dribbling. It’s these skills that thrill the fans.
“They [referees] have to protect the players. Even if one or two actions looked very dangerous, the referee [against Slovenia, Ivan Kruzliak] saw it correctly,” he said.
Slovenia counterpart Boštjan Cesar is reported as replying: “That wasn’t intentional; we didn’t want to injure anyone.”
The Swiss face the return match with North Macedonia on Tuesday and Manzambi will return to Villa, who take on Brentford on Saturday.