Smith aims for another perfect 10 to giveVilla great finish
IT was a fightback of epic proportions as Aston Villa whacked in three goals for the first time in 17 Premier League matches – and all without their creative genius Jack Grealish.
Villa’s three points was all the sweeter knowing that, for 74 minutes, they had failed to muster a single shot on target with defeat seeming the most likely outcome.
Step forward Trezeguet, the Egyptian prince who has a knack of scoring crucial goals at crucial times just like he did with his match-winning brace against Crystal Palace last season.
The winger fired home two goals within 160 seconds to blow Fulham away while it was Ollie Watkins who got back amongst the goals for Villa with his first in eight attempts to take his tally to 11 for the season.
Here we pick out some of the big talking points following Villa’s welcome 3-1 victory which sees them climb back into the top half.
Dean Smith revealed what was said in the team’s pre-match meeting detailing how he’s spoken about yet another 10-game shoot-out from now until the end of the season.
“We spoke before the game about last season going into them last 10 games and how big that can be for you,” he said. “Last season it was about being a Premier League team and this season it’s about finishing as high as we can and making sure the start of the season doesn’t go to waste. It was a big comeback to get that win.”
In his first campaign it was that record-breaking 10-game winning run which catapulted his side to promotion while, last season, Villa scrambled 10 points together from their final 10 matches to survive by a single point when relegation looked nailed on prior to Project Restart.
This time around it’s another 10-game shoot-out with a place in the European spots on the cards.
As we saw on Easter Sunday, football’s a funny old game and everything’s pointing to a remarkable finish.
Easter Sunday’s 3-1 win was a performance full of character – from Tyrone Mings fighting back after his error to force the equaliser, to Villa’s trio of substitutes turning the game on its head. Davis, for Villa’s second, celebrated like he had scored as he clenched his fists and pumped the air knowing Trezeguet had converted his brilliant cross.
What’s more is that Villa bagged their 44th point of the season after 29 matches which is their highest topflight total at this stage since Martin O’Neill’s final season at Villa Park when they finished sixth.
Smith was right to credit his dressing room afterwards and made another point about having quality at his disposal. “They just need to go out on to the pitch and show it,” he added, which is a point worth raising knowing Trezeguet, El Ghazi, Douglas Luiz, Davis and Co are all capable on their day.
Smith couldn’t help but smile when asked about Davis’ contribution on Sunday.
“I’d love him to score because that’s all he’s missing at the moment,” he said, with Davis without a league goal since scoring at Burton Albion in September 2017.
“He hasn’t had much in terms of opportunities such has been Ollie Watkins’ form but I felt we could go two up top today and it worked really well for us.”
Davis, still just 23, caught the eye after another cameo which turned out to be his longest involvement on the pitch this season (23 minutes) since playing 28 minutes on the opening day.
Taking that on board, what are the chances of throwing Davis up front with Watkins to give Liverpool’s somewhat frail defence something to think about on Saturday?
It’s an option worth looking that’s for sure.
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