Aston Villa returned to winning ways in style on Thursday night, as the Villans progressed to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League with a 4-0 victory over Ajax, seeing Moussa Diaby impress.
Aston Villa will be delighted to have recorded a much-needed win after the disappointment of last week’s result against Tottenham.
Villa Park played host to another 4-0 occasion on Thursday night but this time in a better light, as Unai Emery’s side dominantly knocked Ajax out of the Europa Conference League to progress to the quarter-finals.
Goals from Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby confirmed the Midlands club’s place in the next round, with a host of stars performing impressively on the night.
Aston Villa’s attack was back to its best against Ajax
After the woeful performance against Spurs on Sunday in the Premier League, it was crucial that the Villans bounced back against Ajax on Thursday night.
It took 25 minutes for Watkins to net his 22nd goal of the 2023/24 calendar, before filling Villa Park with anxiety as he hobbled off moments later due to a knock to his knee.
The exit of the Englishman seemed to panic the hosts for the remainder of the first half until the tie was all but settled on the hour mark as Bailey netted Villa’s second in style.
Duran showed that he can be the man to cover for Watkins when Emery calls upon him, with another player also stepping up to the mark to impress the manager, as Diaby put in a much-needed impressive display.
Moussa Diaby will have impressed Unai Emery against Ajax
After starting on the bench for Villa’s previous five Premier League games, Thursday night’s fixture could have been seen as the last chance for Diaby to win Emery over in his debut season.
The Frenchman did just that, not only by scoring but by performing at the level that the boss saw he could produce at the start of the campaign, providing a tireless energy to the Villans’ front line.
As per Sofascore, the 24-year-old was the highest-rated Villa player on the pitch against Ajax, recording two key passes, three shots on target and completing 100% of his dribble attempts, with not only the website giving him a high rating.
Journalist John Townley handed Diaby an impressive 8/10 match rating for his performance, as per BirminghamLive, lauding the versatile forward as a ‘menace’ for his power and precision throughout the contest.
The praise kept coming for Diaby, who impressed TNT Sports commentator Lucy Ward after his goal, as she crowned the Frenchman as the figure who “led the tempo” for Villa.
“Pleased for Diaby he deserves that, all the way through the game he’s been bright, he’s led the tempo, he’s got his goal.”
Emery will now have a decision to make over selection for the remainder of the season, as Diaby proved a point on Thursday evening when starting ahead of Youri Tielemans.
