A coat was launched into the sky at Villa Park. Unai Emery’s jacket, to be precise. His team is also flying. Emery is taking Aston Villa to stratospheric heights and it felt fitting that Morgan Rodgers’ goal saw the Spaniard push his shirt upwards. “My adrenaline is pumping,” said Emery, whose celebration looked more anger than joy, but Villa had plenty to enjoy.
Seven consecutive league wins, their best record in 36 years, thanks to the increasingly outstanding Rodgers. A title challenge that no one saw coming was gathering pace. “We can be happy after a bad start,” Emery said. At the Autumnal Equinox, Villa ranks in the bottom three, and joins the top three with the shortest day of the year.
Morgan Rodgers is probably the best in form player in the Premier League (Nick Potts/PA Wire)
Rodgers’ own transformation in three months was equally astounding. He was booed by Villa fans against Bologna in September and now looks like the best player in the Premier League. A second brace in a row and another fantastic goal. Rogers’ style is rich. “Morgan Rodgers was outstanding,” Emery said. “Morgan’s performance improved today and last week. He’s a protagonist, a fighter and a really good guy.”
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Meanwhile, United faltered and faltered. A day that could have seen them finish fifth ended with a beaten, dirty, patched-looking side and an obviously makeshift midfield combination of Lisandro Martinez and debutant Jack Fletcher. If Villa outperforming them is an indictment of United, then it’s another story when Ruben Amorim spent £230m in the summer and Emery has a better squad and a stronger bench.
Amorim’s unusual side showed some defensive determination in the first half and fought hard to equalize for a second time. However, Villa are more cohesive, more motivated and more in the habit of winning. They have won 16 of their last 18 games. The last five games have been won by one goal. This team can keep its cool. They can win big moments.
Rogers certainly can. At the urging of Amadou Onana, he ended the afternoon with a fist-pump in front of the Holte End, once again a crowd favorite. “Sometimes it’s your day, sometimes it’s not,” he shrugged. “Fortunately, that’s been the case lately.”
Morgan Rogers’ stunning opener broke the deadlock at Villa Park (Reuters)
Matthews Cunha equalized for United just three minutes after Rodgers opened the scoring (Getty)
He seemed confident enough to try just about anything. In the 8th minute, he almost scored with a flick of his back heel. When he took action, it was truly spectacular. He caught John McGinn’s pass in the air, collected the ball again and, after a sinuous run, finished with a curling shot that left Seine Lamens motionless. “You want everyone to get into the top corner like that,” Rodgers added. Both of his goals were scored from similar angles, with the second coming from close range after he latched on to a clearance from Aiden Paradise.
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Even more bizarrely, Rodgers almost waited until Christmas to score at Villa Park this season. His previous five goals have all come on the road. Then he absolutely destroyed Manchester United. “Rodgers can play both ends of the floor; it’s really difficult to guard a player like that one-on-one,” rued Amorim.
United have almost found their answer in Rodgers. One explanation is that this turned into a duel between the British and Matheus Cunha. Two players who are willing to shoot took a combined 13 shots. The Brazilians equalized once and should have equalized again.
The summer signing fired home after Patrick Dorgu found Matty Cash dawdling in possession. After scoring just once for United, he has now scored twice in a week. Cunha should eat two meals in the afternoon. He headed wastefully wide from six yards after Dolgu’s unusually accurate cross. If nothing else, Cunha is a stickler. He almost had a shot on goal in the third minute, but it was blocked by Emi Martinez.
Rodgers scores second stunning goal to seal points for Villa (PA)
Injured Bruno Fernandez was substituted at halftime (PA)
But United have few other threats as they start life without Amad Diallo and Brian Mbemo. Benjamin Thesco was particularly disappointing. He lacked confidence when his shot was blocked by Martinez, who hopes to join Manchester United on deadline day and may now be relieved that they are more willing to buy Lamenz.
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“I think we are the better team,” Amorim insisted. “We deserve more.” Some stand out because of their credibility. Paradise, two-time United’s early reliever, had a decent game. The same is true for Dolgu.
But Amorim’s plans were affected by a rare injury to Bruno Fernandez, which meant the captain did not return for the second half, the midfield was without the suspended Casemiro, and the absence of Kobe Manu also looked different with defender Martinez and rookie Fletcher. “It’s really weird,” said Amorim, who is not used to seeing his countrymen marginalized. “It’s going to take a while.” The bigger loss of the day may not have been the defeat, but the loss of the man who had been a captain, a regular and a catalyst.
