Aston Villa duo Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara received high praise from BBC 5 Live pundit, Clinton Morrison, during Unai Emery’s side’s defeat to Manchester United.
Aston Villa fell agonisingly short to Manchester United at Villa Park this evening, losing 2-1 to Erik ten Hag’s side to see them remain in 5th place in the Premier League table.
The Villans fell behind to Rasmus Hojlund’s strike in the first half, before Douglas Luiz acted as Unai Emery’s shining light once more to level the scoring in the 67th minute.
All of the host’s hard work was undone just four minutes from the 90, as Scott McTominay headed home United’s winner to take all three points back to Manchester and close the gap between 5th and 6th place.
It was a result that Villa would’ve hoped to avoid, although it wasn’t all bad news for the Villans during the defeat.
What Clinton Morrison said about Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara
It was certainly an occasion where the battle of the midfield would be pivotal to dictating the result, with Aston Villa duo Luiz and Boubacar Kamara living the highs and lows from the engine room.
In the first half, the Frenchman struggled to contain the aerial threat of Harry Maguire in the box, leading to the towering England international heading the ball into the pathway of Hojlund to open the scoring.
From then on, it was redemption time for Kamara, who showed his worth during his 61-minute cameo before hobbling off with a suspected knee injury.
Speaking on the pivot of Luiz and Kamara, pundit and former Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison dubbed the duo as “fantastic” on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It’s a positive change, Kamara has done well, he’s a good player. Him and Douglas Luiz have been fantastic this season.”
Displaying an impeccable 94% passing accuracy rate against United, Kamara showcased his strength in possession, while his counterpart wandered upfield to net Villa’s equaliser and his seventh Premier League goal of the season.
The importance of Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara at Aston Villa
With the ability to bring a sharp defensive edge and a presence in the final third, Villa have the ideal combination in the middle of the park with their Brazilian and French connection.
Morrison wasn’t the only figure to rave over the assured performance in midfield during the duel against Manchester United, with journalist Josh Bunting having a lot to say about Luiz’s stature in Emery’s XI.
“Douglas Luiz is one of the best players in the league, people will call me insane but he delivers so often when Aston Villa need him. He is the definition of a big game player. His goal tonight is just all about getting in that position to fire into the net. Great awareness.”
Despite the strong performance of Villa’s midfield, it’s back to the drawing board for Emery, who will be desperate to put the wrongs of this week behind him and get his side back to winning ways.
