Aston Villa just continue to charge forward and impress under Unai Emery.
Whether it’s the Champions League or the Premier League, Aston Villa continue to wow their fans and nothing seems to be stopping them.
On Tuesday night, Villa beat Bologna 2-0, to make it three wins from three Champions League games without conceding a goal.
That’s probably the most impressive part because, even after Villa’s memorable win over Bayern Munich, they made sure it wasn’t a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show.
Yes, the Italian side started well, including being a threat on the counter, but as soon as the home team got going, they couldn’t and weren’t stopped.
It took until the second half for John McGinn to open the scoring when his free-kick into the box missed everybody and hit the back of the net.
Before Jhon Duran scored again for Villa, but Rio Ferdinand wanted to give his flowers to somebody else.
Youri Tielemans has gone to ‘another level’ at Aston Villa
Many Villa fans feel Tielemans has been their best player this season and he proved why again against Bologna.
The Belgium international ran the show, danced and moved the ball in whichever direction with fun, arrogance and intelligence.
That’s why Rio Ferdinand said Tielemans has gone to ‘another level’ under Emery’s stewardship at the Midlands side, as he told TNT Sports.
The player himself was standing next to the Manchester United legend when he made those comments and he thanked him for the plaudits.
“You personally seem to have gone to another level now,” said Ferdinand. “I think you are playing at a real high standard, your ball retention, when you are pressed, then you are able to resist that and break the lines.”
Tielemans responded: “First of all, thank you because it’s always good to be recognised. I always try to improve myself. We had some really good work with the manager last year and keeping this year the pre-season. He always gives you the challenges in the game to beat your opponent, especially tonight, when we have an opponent that plays man-to-man. He really wants us to beat our opponent and drive at them. I think we did that really good.”
Tielemans’ stats against Bologna
Once again, he is just oozing class in the middle of the pitch and playing at his tempo by running amock on the opposition.
Always involved, always threatening, Emery ball is suiting Tielemans down to the bone.
Tielemans had a passing accuracy of 83% during the game, including one key pass and he was handed a rating of 7.09 by WhoScored.
| Shots | Key passes | Passing accuracy % | Aerials won | Touches | Rating |
| 1 | 1 | 83% | 2 | 60 | 7.09 |
| Passes | Crosses | Long balls |
| 47 | 5 | 2 |
