OPINION
Aston Villa achieved a narrow 1-0 win over Swansea City on Boxing Day and they have goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to thank for that.
The 28-year-old shot-stopper made a last-gasp save in Wednesday’s match to deny Wilfried Bony earning the Swans a point right at the death as he was gifted on opportunity to score from the penalty spot.
Yet Nyland pulled off a decent save to ensure the Villans got all three points and that he was the hero for Dean Smith’s side.
The 28-year-old is usually a player who gets blamed for his costing his side points not earning them as he has made numerous mistakes this season that have seen him concede 33 goals in 22 league outings.
However it’s clear that Nyland, who also made other vital saves aside from the one to deny Bony, put in a very good performance against the Swans and will no doubt have fresh confidence in his only ability.
This sudden turnaround from zero to hero, especially if he now flourishes after a much-needed morale boost, gifts Smith a tricky dilemma in the near future.
The Villans boss appeared to have already decided that the club could do better than Nyland between the sticks as he acted fast to sign shot stopper Lovre Kalinic recently ahead of the January window even opening.
Aston Villa confirmed via their official site that Kalinic wouldn’t become an official member of the club’s squad until January 1st when the transfer window opens.
While Smith didn’t come out and say that the Croatian shot-stopper would be his new No.1, the manager wouldn’t have acted so fast to get a new goalkeeper at the club if he had any faith in Nyland.
Yet after the 28-year-old looked much better against the Swans then in his previous outings, then Smith surely can’t drop him if the player continues to build momentum even when Kalinic is officially able to play.
While there’s no guarantee Nyland can build on his clean sheet against the Swans there’s no reason to suggest he can’t and that could make it very tricky for Smith to consider dropping him anytime soon.