Rinse and repeat. Aston Villa picked up a deserved 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday at the King Power Stadium.
On the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, Aston Villa beat West Ham, with Amadou Onana opening the scoring and Jhon Duran coming off the bench to score the winner.
That’s exactly what happened against Leicester, who pushed and probed Villa towards the end, but they held firm.
Even Unai Emery will admit, the team aren’t performing at their best, with pockets of strong play here and there.
That’s why players like Duran are very important because he is proving to be clinical and ruthless from the bench.
Duran was linked with West Ham in the summer, but he stayed put and didn’t move to the delight of the supporters.
With Ollie Watkins still feeling the effects of no pre-season, it’s paramount to have players like Duran on the bench pushing and performing.
After Villa’s win at Leicester, Onana spoke highly of the striker and how he is ‘just a joker’ around the place.
Villa’s big-money summer signing stated that Duran is ‘always happy’ and he is a good member of the dressing room, as he told Premier League Productions (31/08/24 at 5:10 pm).
Amadou Onana praises Jhon Duran
“Like against West Ham, the substitutes were a huge part of the game and Duran did it again,” said Onana.
“He’s just a joker. He is someone who is good to be around. He is always happy. It’s good to have a guy like him in the dressing room and a player like him.”
Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins
Watkins was deservedly Villa’s best player last season, but he has started the new campaign off-colour.
It shouldn’t be a worry because he took a few games to score at the start of last season and he hasn’t played any minutes in pre-season.
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Plus, Watkins is still getting in there and missing chances, so it will only be a matter of time before he gets on the scoresheet again.
Yes, people will be calling for Duran to start against Everton after the international break, but Villa’s Champions League games will kick in, so the fixture list will pile up and there is plenty of time to rotate.
