Aston Villa secured a comprehensive 4-0 pre-season win over Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, and some fans have taken to Twitter to rave about the goalscoring display of Ritchie De Laet.
The Belgian right-back was involved in the opening goal after feeding Jonathan Kodjia, who slotted home at the second time of asking, with there being just one goal separating the sides at the break.
Albert Adomah doubled Villa’s lead in the second half before De Laet scored a brilliant solo goal to make it 3-0, with Gary Gardner rounding off a convincing win.
Fans have now taken to Twitter to rave about the 29-year-old, who put in a brilliant display at the back.
This is Futbol have rounded up some of the best tweets:
de laet! so good to see him back and in form #UTV
— Rachel Malloch (@RachelVillavox) July 21, 2018
De Laet proving his worth! Been really impressed with him so far! #avfc
— ???? ?? ??? ????? (@TheVillaHome) July 21, 2018
Very impressed with De laet so far this pre season. Could have been useful last season ?????
— Laura Long (@longy11) July 21, 2018
De Laet seemingly having one last stab at getting into the Belgian national team. ? Good run and solo goal. 3-0. #AVFC
— My Old Man Said (@myoldmansaid) July 21, 2018
WHAT A GOALLLLL!!!!!
Ritchie De Laet continues his excellent preseason and scores a worldie #avfc
— AVFCchats ? (@AVFCchats) July 21, 2018
Imagine thinking in May. De Laet could replace Snodgrass at RM. He has shown he us capable #avfc
— Luke Marshall (@marshallavfc) July 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MrPBateman84/status/1020720252597022720
https://twitter.com/StuartPowell23/status/1020698961785573376
https://twitter.com/PascalBlankson/status/1020698672588181504
OPINION
Villa fans were obviously blown away by De Laet’s performance, and who can blame them? The Belgian defender was flawless today, and while it is just a pre-season friendly against Burton, this bodes well for the season ahead. Whoever is in charge, whether that is Steve Bruce or someone else, will need to use their current resources well, with a big summer budget out of the questions despite the recent takeover. De Laet is a player who has disappointed so far in his Villa career, and seeing him play well is almost like a new signing for fans. If he continues on like this there is no reason why de Laet cannot play a big part for Villa as they look to recover from a haunting summer in 2018/19.