Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on March 19, 2026, 09:51:45 PM
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Never in doubt. Ollie was fantastic, Sancho very good.
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Never in doubt. Ollie was fantastic, Sancho very good.
Well, Sancho was very in and out.
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Happy happy happy
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Well done. Sancho and Emi did so well for the goal.
Ollie made a big difference when he came on.
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Martínez key passes for both goals. Clean sheet. MOTM.
Watkins good cameo.
Sancho great second half.
Solid result.
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That was a much more Emery performance than we've seen recently, calm, composed and controlled for most of the 90, just playing it our way and waiting for tiredness and mistakes to come into their play so we could punish them. Both goals were very good, with unselfish assists that made them tap-ins really.
More of that and we'll finish the season well.
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Martínez key passes for both goals. Clean sheet. MOTM.
Watkins good cameo.
Sancho great second half.
Solid result.
This
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What a difference Ollie made when he came on, he was brilliant. McGinn is just essential to us, what a player. Just before the goal I was grumbling about Sancho, but he did very well for that goal. What a pass from Emi!
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Job done.
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McGinn’s goal came at a critical moment. Team looked like they were about to go into their shell again. Hope this is the start of a turnaround in form.
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Much better second half.
Good cameo from Harvey,
Well done lads
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In the end a routine win.
I thought Bogarde (esp. 1st half), Luiz and Lindelof were excellent, but Emi and Sancho just edged them out for =MotM.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
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That was a really, really satisfying night. I think everyone played well, including those who get, sometimes deserved, criticism. If I'm being harsh, Tammy was quiet, but he worked hard and probably made it easier for Watkins off the bench.
I think Lindelof's our best centre half btw. Just throwing it out there.
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Great result - thought Onana and Luiz looked better than they have - though possibly not there toughest challange.
Second half was the best Sancho has played for us. Watkins was excellent - though I think he benefited from the fact we scored just before he came on. But hopefully him and Bailey have had a big shot in the arm.
Win at the weekend and would be a great way to leave it for the international break
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I thought McGinn, Torres, Onana and Luiz played well. Your a harsh man Bront!
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This poor girl stood next to Stan looks absolutely terrified.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
Take the point that the opposition weren’t too clever but Villa were generally by far the more accomplished side. The confidence visibly flowed back into the team after we scored the first goal.
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"I was looking for Jadon to thank him for the assist and he was nearly at Witton station."
😂
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Good win and some encouraging signs that we are slowly getting our confidence back.
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Pretty comfortable against a side that didn't really pose too much of a threat over the two legs. 3rd European QF in three seasons - let's see who we get.
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Happy for the win but poor opposition.
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Bologna or Roma?
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Not Malen as the script is written there.
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Steal MyToilet
The second-half opener settled Villa's nerves, which were evident around Villa Park during a tepid first half. Villa could have drifted into trouble but they remained largely in control.
The second goal added gloss to a performance which again lacked quality and energy. Villa did what they needed to do to get the job done, but still need to improve - both in the Premier League and Europe.
Yet they can still produce one-off moments, like Martinez did, to lift them and ensure their Europa League dream remains alive.
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Bologna Just scored. Oops wring thread.
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Bologna winning.
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elliot is a good player , I honestly think more minutes from him and we would have had a few more points when bailey , buendia and even rogers was dire.
he has worked hard , turned up every day and you can see the players like him... ..
The confidence hopefully will start to come back Sancho looked good tonight and I like the Linderlof and Pau partnership. Ollie did well other than one typical Ollie moment and Bailey got a goal , oh my . . .
Onana was better and with Youri soon back , Im thinking we can still get a chumps league place.
win Sunday and its on .....
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I've really warmed to Elliot. It's a shame. But Emery has obviously decided he either isn't worth 35m, or more likely, we don't need to spend 35m in that position.
Which we don't. We need pace. Lots of pace.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
Take the point that the opposition weren’t too clever but Villa were generally by far the more accomplished side. The confidence visibly flowed back into the team after we scored the first goal.
Sure and it's job done. But result aside, didn't see much sign of life in us really. Couldn't get out of our box after half time until we scored. They had to gamble then and it made things easier for us. A bit more care and we could have scored a load - Sancho off post, Watkins not able to put a 2 yard pass through to Luiz, might have been another one.
Luiz kind of summed us up. He seemed to win the ball back a lot to be fair, far more than Onana. Brilliant ball to put Sancho through but stupid moments around our box. Passing ball straight out of play at one stage under no pressure. Maatsen another one, just so sloppy. He cost Luiz a yellow.
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We won. Be pleased for a change.
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p.s Malen will be watching Emmerdale . . .. no VP reunion :)
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Bailey was so looking forward to getting his revenge as well....
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This Nick Mashiter who has been writing articles on us this week on the Beeb is a right twat. Seems to hate us!
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This Nick Mashiter who has been writing articles on us this week on the Beeb is a right twat. Seems to hate us!
Steal MyToilet is an absolute pillock.
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p.s Malen will be watching Emmerdale . . .. no VP reunion :)
I've heard he's after tickets.
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This Nick Mashiter who has been writing articles on us this week on the Beeb is a right twat. Seems to hate us!
I haven’t seen the latest but I’ve noticed in the past that he seems to be very anti us. He’s a prick.
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Nice and steady, with energy preserved for a much sterner test on Sunday.
In my opinion Emery has made 2 major errors since Christmas, letting Malen go and not using Lindelof enough, the latter self evident tonight.
Cruising through like this may not be a thrill a minute but there will be excitement to come I'm sure. 3 Euro QF's in 3 seasons is excellent, we need that trophy but you have to say that Emery deserves all the praise that comes his way.
And just a word for some of the moaning around me, comparing things to when DOL was in charge, calling multiple players fucking shit and my particular favourite "I don't care how much the tickets are, the place should be full".
I bet he's a fucking Tory.
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It’s nice to win again and a third consecutive European quarter final; hopefully we can go all the way this time.
The performance was better. Yes, there’s plenty to critique and the opposition weren’t the best, but just happy to enjoy the win again and see some semblance of the Emery Villa we’re more accustomed to seeing. Onwards.
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Just glad we're through with no drama. Now Bologna looks tricky, and hopefully Porto will after them. Players back and better league form would be useful by the time the quarters roll around on April 9th.
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This Nick Mashiter who has been writing articles on us this week on the Beeb is a right twat. Seems to hate us!
I haven’t seen the latest but I’ve noticed in the past that he seems to be very anti us. He’s a prick.
I'd agree.
This journo has not said anything positive about us .
He's obviously not happy as according to his name somebody has stolen his toilet!
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
As you said Lille posed very little threat and non of their players stood out but you can only beat what’s in front of you. I’d say Torres was steady and tried to get us in the front foot without loads of movement ahead of him, Axis of Luis and Onana did well without being pressured too much but both got around the pitch. Rogers showed some lovely touches and played a few good balls linking up with Sancho, particularly in the first half.
Lots of encouraging performances tonight which hopefully we can build on to click out of our current league form.
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Great views from the Upper North of the goals, which we sprung from quick, direct moves, exploiting space. In sharp contrast to the constant passing around either box we specialise in.
Just wish we'd go direct more often. Tammy is dying for some crosses into the box to attack.
Really enjoyed the hour pre-game in the Warehouse. Having a Villa "band" playing live on stage while massive screens showed the other European games and you could easily sit down on one of the beaches and chat away to other fans.
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Controlled that mostly. The first half was a borefest but much better in the second half. Ollie did loads of great stuff when he came on, Sancho probably our best forward over the 90 mins. Thought Luiz was poor. I like Pau and Lindelof together, although no doubt would have issues against quicker forwards.
First time in the Warehouse before and after, enjoyed it.
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Just back as the M40 was closed which was nice.
Job done, great moves at times but also wasteful. Sancho really is frustrating, 1st half did nothing of note just kept losing the ball unable to get passed anyone, then 2nd half improved. Still nowhere near consistent enough for me.
Onana and Luis we great. Defence was pretty solid. Our probs are attacking quality, McGinn has made a difference but need more from the others.
Yeah, Warehouse was great. Easy to get a drink and seat, the band and big screens was a real positive. Just the front bit needs finishing off, signage etc looked temporary and cheap.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
Take the point that the opposition weren’t too clever but Villa were generally by far the more accomplished side. The confidence visibly flowed back into the team after we scored the first goal.
Sure and it's job done. But result aside, didn't see much sign of life in us really. Couldn't get out of our box after half time until we scored. They had to gamble then and it made things easier for us. A bit more care and we could have scored a load - Sancho off post, Watkins not able to put a 2 yard pass through to Luiz, might have been another one.
Luiz kind of summed us up. He seemed to win the ball back a lot to be fair, far more than Onana. Brilliant ball to put Sancho through but stupid moments around our box. Passing ball straight out of play at one stage under no pressure. Maatsen another one, just so sloppy. He cost Luiz a yellow.
I agree with you re Luiz - some good passing and vision and some moments where he lost his head and looked to be determined to get a card.
I thought we were turgid for the first half but rarely looked in trouble. The first goal killed the tie which was exactly what we needed. Good cameo from Ollie too. West Ham will be much harder.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
As you said Lille posed very little threat and non of their players stood out but you can only beat what’s in front of you. I’d say Torres was steady and tried to get us in the front foot without loads of movement ahead of him, Axis of Luis and Onana did well without being pressured too much but both got around the pitch. Rogers showed some lovely touches and played a few good balls linking up with Sancho, particularly in the first half.
Lots of encouraging performances tonight which hopefully we can build on to click out of our current league form.
One thing I'll give Torres credit for is he's definitely sharper in the offside line than Mings. He was nearly caught tonight at one stage but still pushed out in time. Granted Giroud isn't exactly Joao Pedro. Distribution wise I thought Torres was poor when it was competitive. To be fair, Maatsen's attitude tonight was very poor next to him and Luiz needs to take more risks in front of him to get on it. But far too often Torres forward balls were either cut out or if Tammy got there first he was totally isolated and dispossessed. Maybe movement wasn't good enough in front of him but I'd expect Torres to be better. Lindelof bailed him out big time at start of second half when he got caught under a cross and Giroud looked set to score. Martinez not one for clearing house in that scenario any longer.
Lindelof was our best defender by a long way tonight I thought. Luiz certainly worked very hard in midfield, far more interceptions than Onana I suspect and the odd moment of class like that ball for Sancho. But taking a bit too long on the ball for me, still doubting himself a bit maybe.
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Really pleased with the result. That’s all that matters.
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Anyone fortunate enough to get a ticket for the Q-F away leg in Bologna on 9th April could travel the day before and get to see Steel Pulse on their 50th anniversary tour the previous evening!
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2nd half was a lot better - we decided to pass the ball forward rather than side to side - some of those paper aeroplanes were well thrown which was the highlight of the 1st half.
Torres and Lindeloff were a good partnership at centre half.
Good win - judging by the empty seats let’s hope that the pricing of tickets for the QF is not too expensive for fans to attend - thought £50 quid was too much last night for a lot of fans
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as others have said - much better last night when we upped the tempo, ran harder and was more direct.
tippy tappy sideways can't be our only plan, so it's good to see a variety to our plan. It's cost us at times this season when we're too stubborn.
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Slow and steady first half
Quicker and less ponderous in the second half and we looked much better then
Clean sheet, no injuries, Cash back from injury
All in all a good night and Unai is on 101 wins as our boss, need to beat West Ham now Sunday and get our season properly back on track
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I think we're a Youri Tielemans away from being able to reach our better level again. CL qualification must be crucial to our finances for next season and possibly seeing Emery staying.
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And a Kamara. We aren’t the same team without him. But yeah, Tielemans is also crucial.
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This Nick Mashiter who has been writing articles on us this week on the Beeb is a right twat. Seems to hate us!
I haven’t seen the latest but I’ve noticed in the past that he seems to be very anti us. He’s a prick.
I'd agree.
This journo has not said anything positive about us .
He's obviously not happy as according to his name somebody has stolen his toilet!
I’ve just read it - I’ll be honest didn’t seem overly negative to me.
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2nd half was a lot better - we decided to pass the ball forward rather than side to side - some of those paper aeroplanes were well thrown which was the highlight of the 1st half.
Torres and Lindeloff were a good partnership at centre half.
Good win - judging by the empty seats let’s hope that the pricing of tickets for the QF is not too expensive for fans to attend - thought £50 quid was too much last night for a lot of fans
You’ll be disappointed, prices up and ST have until COB Monday to secure their seats.
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I think Emery got the line up right and the subs right.
Lindelof makes a huge difference.
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Was chatting to people at half time and we agreed that the first half was a hard watch. We were asking what has happened to us? Where has that attacking brilliance of a couple of months ago gone? Even Arsenal struggled to cope. But second half the signs were there that it's coming back. Hopefully that will be the catalyst for a charge for the line and finally a trophy.
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I think Emery got the line up right and the subs right.
Lindelof makes a huge difference.
Lindelof is our best signing post-Rogers. I wanted him to start v ManU as had a point to prove.
Let's see if he starts v SPam as he played well last time
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play with Ollie ready to come on the sideline. Ollie did make a big impact off the bench but that's with Lille pushing on too. Ordinary enough in truth against a very average Lille team. Lindelof for me was a positive again, don't think he's had a poor game at centre back for us yet. Sancho with an assist and Bailey with a goal wasn't on the bingo card tonight. Maatsen, Torres, Rogers, Onana, Luiz , McGinn, Tammy all meh though.
Anyway, onto next round
As you said Lille posed very little threat and non of their players stood out but you can only beat what’s in front of you. I’d say Torres was steady and tried to get us in the front foot without loads of movement ahead of him, Axis of Luis and Onana did well without being pressured too much but both got around the pitch. Rogers showed some lovely touches and played a few good balls linking up with Sancho, particularly in the first half.
Lots of encouraging performances tonight which hopefully we can build on to click out of our current league form.
One thing I'll give Torres credit for is he's definitely sharper in the offside line than Mings. He was nearly caught tonight at one stage but still pushed out in time. Granted Giroud isn't exactly Joao Pedro. Distribution wise I thought Torres was poor when it was competitive. To be fair, Maatsen's attitude tonight was very poor next to him and Luiz needs to take more risks in front of him to get on it. But far too often Torres forward balls were either cut out or if Tammy got there first he was totally isolated and dispossessed. Maybe movement wasn't good enough in front of him but I'd expect Torres to be better. Lindelof bailed him out big time at start of second half when he got caught under a cross and Giroud looked set to score. Martinez not one for clearing house in that scenario any longer.
Lindelof was our best defender by a long way tonight I thought. Luiz certainly worked very hard in midfield, far more interceptions than Onana I suspect and the odd moment of class like that ball for Sancho. But taking a bit too long on the ball for me, still doubting himself a bit maybe.
Torres played well, albeit with not much threat from Lille. His passing is night and day to any of the other centre backs. Considering Watkins had nearly the whole second half, his performance compared to Tammys was night and day, Tammy was really poor against a very average team, maybe we never played to his strengths, but I can why Emery hasn’t been starting him. Not sure why Maatsens attitude was poor?
Anyway, flat first half, much better second, and all in all a really comfortable night. Think West Ham will push us harder on Sunday.
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I think what some of us sometimes forget is that with a 1-0 lead from the away leg we don’t need to go chasing the game. As long as our structure and defensive shape is ok very few teams in this competition are going to cause us issues as was proved last night when Lille managed the sum total of fuck all in the first half. It doesn’t make for a great spectacle but trophies aren’t won by being gung ho at this stage. We were constantly baiting the Lille press last night and it wasn’t until into the second half that the gaps started to appear and we got some of our flow going.
Scores for me
Martinez 7.5 did everything he had to and did it well. Much prefer the pinged long clearances he makes rather than the floaty ones.
Bogarde - 6.5 did well defensively didn’t add much offensively.
Lindelof - 7 solid, reliable, dependable
Torres 7 - did well and his passing in the second half really opened them up
Maatsen - 6.5 looks a bit off it at the moment but did his job well and got better as the game progressed
Onana -6.5 much better and seems to be growing into what he’s being asked to do
Luiz -7 very good from Dougie. Caught the wrong side a few times but he started to motor as the game progressed
McGinn - 8 he’s back topped with a great goal
Rogers - 7 that’s more like it, as the game opened up we saw the player we know exists. His movement into space in the first half wasn’t being picked up.
Sancho - 8 assist, thunderbastard off the post and numerous other good things. Best performance in a Villa shirt, more please.
Abraham - 5 static, lost possession frequently and just seemed to be reacting to what was going on around him.
Subs
Watkins - 8 showed why he starts, movement was excellent, gave their centre backs a torrid time and an a’cyst.
Bailey, Buendia, Elliott and Cash all did their jobs well. Special mention to Leon’s goal and the quite extraordinary reverse ball control from a high ball which for all the criticism he takes made me smile.
Emery 8 knew exactly what was required
The seeds of recovery are there, let’s take that in to Sunday. Onwards…..
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A'cyst! Building on the fine work of Percy and Monty.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
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A great assessment AV82EC.
Have a feeling Bogarde is under instruction to be more defensive than offensive. Can never remember him crossing a ball in any game.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
He's done that his whole career with us , usually 3/4 yards outside the penalty box if not a free kick it'll be possession.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
He's done that his whole career with us , usually 3/4 yards outside the penalty box if not a free kick it'll be possession.
From memory, wasn't it one of those that took the Olympiakos tie away from us?
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We really needed that.
Something to take into the West Ham match.
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Sold professional performance by the Villa, Lindelof excellent, better from Sancho, regarding our 2 main strikers Tammy was nowhere near as bad as some are making out, Ollie did ok which is an improvement on the last few months, now let’s find a way to beat West Ham.
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I know they both got through last night but watching Forest and Palace relatively struggle this season has really emphasised how well Unai has got us to adapt to European football. This year in particular has been a breeze for most of the time. Never a period in this tie we didn't look in control, long may it continue.
I think Doug was good last night, as was Onana, although there were a couple of careless moments.
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Ollie was much better than ok - what he did enabled the attack to be much more linked up.
Tammy struggled, and other than good work rate to force the corner that Onana nearly scored from it was not a great night for him.
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Agree on Lindelof, great signing, played well with Pau last night.
Sorry, but Sancho was poor 1st half, and did great for the goal but apart from that, not consistent enough. His contract finishes in the summer, if he was offered, it’s a no, especially the wages he’s on.
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Agree on Lindelof, great signing, played well with Pau last night.
Sorry, but Sancho was poor 1st half, and did great for the goal but apart from that, not consistent enough. His contract finishes in the summer, if he was offered, it’s a no, especially the wages he’s on.
I thought he had his best game for us and was my pick for motm. Looked far more of a threat than previously. Noticed he was also tracking back with pace when needed too. One silly moment when he lost control of the ball and it went out of play when he was in loads of space. Based on what we’ve got from him so far I can’t see us trying to buy him. Hope he can at least contribute positively for what’s left of this season.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
He's done that his whole career with us , usually 3/4 yards outside the penalty box if not a free kick it'll be possession.
From memory, wasn't it one of those that took the Olympiakos tie away from us?
Noted this same thing last night. He was good at getting the ball, but careless in distribution at times and likely to foul in a dangerous position.
Lindelof in particular, and Torres did well, although Pau's long passing in the first half was quite wasteful.
The first goal really helped as Lille had to try to commit more forward and they increasingly lost shape enabling us to pick them off more readily. However, to be fair to Watkins, he used that space very well and hopefully it will give him a boost.
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In fairness to Doug the one he got a yellow for was because Maatsen completely ballsed up.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
He's done that his whole career with us , usually 3/4 yards outside the penalty box if not a free kick it'll be possession.
Harsh enough, he does win the ball back a lot despite getting caught wrong side a bit.
He's a goal threat from midfield too more than our other options. Garbage time granted but last two games he should have had tap ins. A fully fit Luiz gets into the box more often.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
Luiz did some good work but overall I thought he was way off with his decision making and passing. He’s nowhere near the level of the Dougie of old.
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The reaction from some of the French press.
L'Equipe
Lille is eliminated by a stronger team.
Lille never truly believed they could qualify against a tactically superior Aston Villa side, brimming with talent and dynamism. Stifled in the first half, Les Dogues tried to respond in the second but couldn't find a single opening in their opponents' defence.
RMC Sport
Aston Villa 2-0 Lille: "We were childish," laments Genesio after the elimination
Lille have been eliminated from the Europa League following this 2-0 away defeat to Aston Villa. In the post-match press conference, Lille coach Bruno Genesio reflected on the game, highlighting the experience of the Villans which proved decisive in this two-legged European tie.
France24
Lille were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa on Thursday, ending their European dream before the Europa League quarter-finals.
Too slow to start and too soft afterwards, Lille failed on Thursday, March 19th, to write the chapter of history they hoped for at Aston Villa, where a 2-0 defeat ended their European dream before the Europa League quarter-finals . The 1-0 loss in the first leg of the round of 16 had put Bruno Genesio's team in a precarious position, but they only truly got going after halftime and conceded the dreaded goals in the second half. LOSC once again fell victim to Aston Villa, currently fourth in the Premier League , just as they did in the 2024 Conference League quarter-finals.
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Highlighting our greater experience when we've been in identical competitions last three seasons
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To be fair Lille have lost a lot of their better players i believe and are probably weaker now than 2 years ago.
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So are we.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
Luiz did some good work but overall I thought he was way off with his decision making and passing. He’s nowhere near the level of the Dougie of old.
I don't think he is far off. Fitness levels improving and he's getting on the ball a lot.
The missing ingredient is Kamara. He makes everyone better. Petrov said at half time that Luiz and Onana were too close together however i think that is by design and is "the structure" Emery demands. It's only when Kamara is there that Tielemans/Luiz/Onana can release the handbrake because Kamara covers the ground/channels of two players.
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The confidence and contributions of Sancho, Watkins and Bailey have been low of late so it bodes well that all three came off last night with smiles on their faces having made impacts
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Great win.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
Luiz did some good work but overall I thought he was way off with his decision making and passing. He’s nowhere near the level of the Dougie of old.
I don't think he is far off. Fitness levels improving and he's getting on the ball a lot.
The missing ingredient is Kamara. He makes everyone better. Petrov said at half time that Luiz and Onana were too close together however i think that is by design and is "the structure" Emery demands. It's only when Kamara is there that Tielemans/Luiz/Onana can release the handbrake because Kamara covers the ground/channels of two players.
Exactly that - he’s playing a role that he’s ok at, but it’s not what he’s best at.
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Honestly thought we where excellent last night. Really tactically astute for large portions of the game.
The 4 2 2 2 system with Rogers narrow centrally and McGinn tucked in wasn't always effective, but that was largely down to a few whiffy passes and touches. We'd have torn them apart in the first half if we'd have been sharper.
Sancho excellent. He plays like that every week and he'll get an offer from us. Lindeloff and Pau paired brilliantly together again. Watkins best game for a while, despite that stinker at the end. The whole game gave me more confidence then I've had in weeks that we can put a semblance of a run together in the league.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
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Thoroughly professional performance across both legs - we never really looked in any danger despite barely getting out of second gear.
Only negative point for me was the fucking morons turning the banners into paper aeroplanes and chucking them. It was like getting dive bombed in the lower tier at times, and I got hit point first by one of the fuckers just below my eye. I would genuinely hope the club don't put on a display using things like that ever again.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Spot on. Conceding possession is absolutely something Emery wanted us to do, especially given out crappy win % when it get's too high.
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The confidence and contributions of Sancho, Watkins and Bailey have been low of late so it bodes well that all three came off last night with smiles on their faces having made impacts
Indeed fingers crossed.
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After not a great 1st half, big improvement in the second, particularly good to see the best of Sancho and of course SJM scoring. Superb pass from Emi for the goal, let's see more of that and Unai, please can you have a word with Doug to cut out these needless free kicks he keeps giving away in dangerous areas.
He's done that his whole career with us , usually 3/4 yards outside the penalty box if not a free kick it'll be possession.
From memory, wasn't it one of those that took the Olympiakos tie away from us?
Didn’t he give away a daft handball penalty just after we’d equalised? And then missed a penalty himself. We beat ourselves that night if you throw in the high line against Kabbi.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Only for Lindelof they would have taken the lead early in the second half when they were on top. It wasn't as if we were comfortable defensively at the time. Our goal changed things but we were all over the place early in the second half until we scored.
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If I remember right Victor was in our starting team and played his role so what's "only" about it?
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I think you’re catastrophising a bit - they had a phase with a bit of pressure, the case you cite where our defender did some good defending. We then scored, had other chances - they had another little phase but didn’t force any real chances and then we finished it.
We were largely in control - it’s very rare the opposition isn’t going to be on top for a bit.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Only for Lindelof they would have taken the lead early in the second half when they were on top. It wasn't as if we were comfortable defensively at the time. Our goal changed things but we were all over the place early in the second half until we scored.
You mean Lindelhoff defending which is what he's there for? Top stuff Bronte
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Only for Lindelof they would have taken the lead early in the second half when they were on top. It wasn't as if we were comfortable defensively at the time. Our goal changed things but we were all over the place early in the second half until we scored.
There really wasn’t any point in any part of the match when they were on top. They had a couple of moments when they had a couple of half chances at best. Their keeper pulled off a good save from Onanas header, saved well from Elliot, Sancho hit the post and Ollie fluffed one at the end. It could of conceivably been 5-0 without us getting out of 3rd gear.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Only for Lindelof they would have taken the lead early in the second half when they were on top. It wasn't as if we were comfortable defensively at the time. Our goal changed things but we were all over the place early in the second half until we scored.
Moaning when we won easily and you missed half the match is good going. Well done.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Bronté you're lucky you only saw the second half , first half they parked the bus. Second half they knew they'd have to come at us, they tried and we sprang the trap, two beautiful goals on the counter, both with Villa attacks and tonnes of space to run into. They didn't know what hit them but knew the game was well and truly over.
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I said to our whatsapp group during the first half that a goal for us will kill it as Lille didnt really offer anything.
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Nice for Giroud to add to his collection of goals against the Villa with two more, albeit offside. In fairness, thought he came across very well in his TNT interview afterwards.
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Only saw second half, we got the goal against the run of play
That's a very negative take on it. The game was set up for that. We knew they needed to score and that's where we were going to pick them and we did exactly that.
Bronté you're lucky you only saw the second half , first half they parked the bus. Second half they knew they'd have to come at us, they tried and we sprang the trap, two beautiful goals on the counter, both with Villa attacks and tonnes of space to run into. They didn't know what hit them but knew the game was well and truly over.
That's true, first goal killed the game. But it's not as if we were in control just half time and just waiting for one of our counters to score. Emery recognised that and had Ollie ready to come in. That's my take on it. Tammy was a bit unfortunate as Watkins came on to a different game after the goal.