Aston Villa all but guaranteed their progress to the next round of the Europa Conference League with a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar.
When the final whistle went at Villa Park on Thursday, it was all smiles around the ground from those in claret and blue. That being said, it wasn’t the case for the whole game, as Aston Villa had to overcome a tough challenge to pick up the three points.
Villa scored very early, only for Clement Lenglet’s strike to be ruled out for an offside, which left many baffled. But Unai Emery‘s side then went behind after the break with Vangelis Pavlidis scoring.
This didn’t last long as Diego Carlos put the Villians on level terms before Ollie Watkins then scored the winner with just over 10 minutes to play.
However, neither of these two are our standout performers, as Jamaican international Leon Bailey is who we think inspired the victory.
Leon Bailey impresses against AZ Alkmaar
Bailey was phenomenal against Alkmaar and was a danger throughout the game for Villa. We were delighted to see him starting the game and had called for Bailey to start before the game.
Bailey assisted Carlos’ goal which drew Villa level at the time, delivering a perfectly weighted corner. He also played a key role in getting Douglas Luiz on the ball to assist Watkins for the winner.
Outside of these two quality moments, all-round he was excellent as TNT Sport’s commentator Paul Dempsey raved mid-match, “Fine work from Leon Bailey this evening – persistent, full of belief.”
On SofaScore for the game, Bailey scored the joint highest average rating with a 7.6 out of 10. He was Villa’s most creative player with two key passes and even won three duels.
Despite losing the ball 20 times, Bailey was immense and went a long way to justifying his £100k-a-week wage that he’s been picking up.
His display helped Emery avoid an embarrassing home defeat given AZ easily could’ve walked away winners here.
