Aston Villa enjoyed a fine start to life post-Steven Gerrard as they ran out resounding 4-0 winners on Sunday.
Leon Bailey and a couple of goals from Danny Ings fired the Villans into a 3-0 lead inside 15 minutes.
Ollie Watkins added a fourth just before the hour mark as Aaron Danks guided the club to their first victory in five games.
It’s a result that sees the west Midlanders climb up to 14th in the table and one man who didn’t find himself on the scoresheet has come in for some praise.
The Birmingham Mail awarded Ashley Young an 8/10 rating for his performance and attached the following comment:
‘Villa’s Mr Reliable, Young was excellent value once again and slipped Bailey in with a brilliant pass which set up Ings for 2-0. Young was constantly barking orders and made sure Villa never pulled their foot off the gas. A real leader and impressing in every performance now.’
TIF Thoughts on Young and Villa…
Was Gerrard given enough time at Villa?Yes
No
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Lucas Digne’s injury has afforded the 37-year-old the opportunity to showcase his talents even in the twilight years of his career.
Young has started each of the last seven matches, each of the last four at left-back and according to WhoScored is the club’s highest-performing outfield player with an average match rating of 6.87.
He led the game versus Brentford for interceptions (3) completed 82% of his passes and had one shot on target in an accomplished display (SofaScore).
It is certainly encouraging for the club to see that Young still has the ability to perform at this level and his versatility has been invaluable of late.