Aston Villa were immense against Brighton at Villa Park over the weekend, beating the Seagulls 6-1. In the win, Ollie Watkins was the star, but an unsung hero was Matty Cash.
Brighton were being tipped as potential outsiders in the title race this season as they started the season in super form including wins over both Newcastle and Manchester United.
But after the win on Saturday, Villa have leapfrogged them and moved up into fifth, just a point off Champions League football at this early stage.
It was a real statement performance for Unai Emery that will have reminded many that Roberto De Zerbi isn’t the only manager doing miracles.
But aside from Ollie Watkins‘ hat trick, not all the team performed great. One man who did though, was Matty Cash at right-back.
Matty Cash impresses
Watkins may have taken all the headlines from the game, but Matty Cash was the next best and Villa’s unsung hero in the massive win.
Cash played all 90 minutes in the game and assisted one goal for the Villains in the romp of Brighton.
He had 50 touches in the game and completed 86% of his passes attempted, with one being a key pass and creating one big chance.
Defensively he was also great, making two clearances, blocking one shot, one interception and made six tackles.
He also won nine duels as he completely shut down Kaoru Mitoma’s attacking threat.
How high can Villa rise?
Aston Villa fans will be excited by what they’ve seen this season so far, and will be wondering how high they can go on this run.
Next course of action however will be the bounce back to winning ways in the Europa Conference League against Bosnian side Zrinjski.
Following this, Wolves are on the cards at the weekend before the international break.
A huge chance for Villa to enter the international break in the top four which would be a miraculous achievement for Emery.
