Aston Villa made it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since mid-September as they defeated Southampton 1-0 at Villa Park.
Perhaps not the most fluid performance, with a Champions League clash coming in midweek, all that mattered for Unai Emery was securing all three points.
Jhon Duran made his first Premier League start of the season, coming in for Ollie Watkins and his goal after 24 minutes proved to be the difference between the teams.
Does his performance merit another start against RB Leipzig next week?
Jhon Duran’s statistics vs Southampton
The Colombian has been an excellent option off the bench for Emery this season, but the Spaniard finally relented and unleashed the youngster from the off in the league.
It proved to be a wise move. Not only did he score the winner, but Duran also won three of his five total duels, registered three shots in total and lost possession on just five occasions during his spell on the field.
Stat
Highest Ranked
Key passes
Morgan Rogers (3)
Shots on target
Jhon Duran and John McGinn (2)
Ground duels won
Ian Maatsen (6)
Accurate passes
Taylor Harwood-Bellis (82)
Tackles
Ian Maatsen (5)
He was withdrawn with just over 30 minutes left, replaced by Watkins, but both manager and player will be happy with his efforts.
Despite being the match winner, it was Boubacar Kamara who was Villa’s star man in their 1-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Boubacar Kamara is returning to his best after injury
The Frenchman missed the last few months of 2023/24 and the opening weeks of the current season due to injury. He finally returned against Bologna in the Champions a few weeks ago.
Emery will see Kamara as a new signing, and he performed wonderfully against the Saints, really setting the tone from the heart of the midfield.
His passing was exemplary, finishing the game with a 90% pass success rate while he took 53 touches and made one key pass during the game.
Such was his composure on the ball, the midfielder lost possession on just six occasions in the 90 minutes, as it looks as though he is finally getting back to his best after months out of the side.
Journalist Jacob Tanswell praised Kamara for his defensive contributions, hailing him as “outstanding” after blocking a shot from Cameron Archer.
This sort of commitment is exactly what Emery is after from his players and that piece of defending went a long way to securing a clean sheet and all three points for the club.
John Townley awarded the midfielder a match rating of 8/10 for his performance, going on to state that ‘Kamara played an important role in the middle of the park’ throughout the 90 minutes.
Performance in Numbers
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This display will give him yet another confidence boost that he is over the injury which disrupted his 2023/24 campaign.
With plenty of games to come, Emery will have to manage the Frenchman carefully. Against the Saints, he demonstrated he can be one of the club’s most important players heading into the festive season. For that, there is no doubt.
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