talkSPORT pundit Scott Minto has claimed that Aston Villa did something against Lille that he’s never seen before.
Unai Emery’s men booked their spot in the semi-finals thanks to a 4-3 penalty shootout victory. Emi Martinez was the hero for the visitors, making two crucial saves.
The hosts certainly started brighter and took the lead through Yusuf Yazıcı. Benjamin Andre doubled Lille’s lead before Matty Cash sent to tie to extra time in the 87th minute.
At times, it was a difficult evening for the Villans, with the host’s intense pressure causing problems.
Scott Minto can’t believe Aston Villa first half statistic against Lille
Lille completely dominated the first period. The hosts were well-deserving of their lead and managed five shots compared to Villa’s zero.
Another alarming statistic concerned the away side’s first-half expected goals. Per FotMob, Villa created a grand total of 0.00 before half time.
Something that Minto highlighted whilst on co-commentary.
“For anyone interested, Villa’s expected goals in the first half is 0.00,” he explained [talkSPORT2 18:23].
He added: “Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I have to say, it’s 1-0 at the moment, but it could easily be more than that. Emi Martinez made a very good save with his face, but Villa have been terrible going forward.”
Aston Villa failed to deal with Lille’s intense press
Thursday’s fixture couldn’t have been further from what we saw Villa produce against Arsenal on Sunday.
At The Emirates, the visitors were more than comfortable baiting the Gunners into pressing and playing into gaps that had been vacated. Leon Bailey’s opener initially came from breaking Arsenal’s first line of defence.
However, the same couldn’t be said this evening. Emi Martinez was forced to go long far too often, and several players looked at a loss.
Fonseca deserves credit. Emery is rarely outwitted tactically, but the Spaniard met his match on this occasion.
The Spaniard will be delighted that his side got the job done whilst not at their best.
The post 'Terrible': Scott Minto says Aston Villa did something tonight that he's never seen before appeared first on Aston Villa News.
