Villa vs Leicester man of the match

[Editor’s Note] Every match, Liam - our young writer - selects a ‘man of the match’ - win, lose or draw.

A disappointing display from Dean Smith’s side as Aston Villa suffered a 4-1 defeat to Leicester City in front of a disheartened Villa faithful at Villa Park.

The Villans started brightly in the first half with Skipper Jack Grealish’s shot being blocked in the 6th minute however the Foxes began to grow into the game with Söyüncü and Evans forcing Heaton into action past the 10 minute mark.

Brendan Rodgers’ side continued to pressurise Villa’s defence and opened the scoring in the 21st minute after the away side broke quickly on the counter attack with Jamie Vardy powerfully striking his side into the lead from close range.

The boys in claret and blue suffered a major blow two minutes later after the adonis himself Tyrone Mings was substituted off after appearing to have become injured during the match. Leicester City capitalised on Mings’ departure with Iheanacho leaving Heaton helpless in the net as he struck the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

Some of the Villa faithful began to vehemently voice their disapproval of their teams’ performance however Jack Grealish gave the Villans some hope before half time after he artfully struck the ball past Kasper Schmeichel and into the opposition’s net.

The Foxes started the Second half on the front foot and extended their lead in the 49th minute after Johnny Evans intricately headed the ball into the top left hand corner.

Despite Villa sporadically dominating possession, Leicester’s number Nine Jamie Vardy secured all three points for his side after placing the ball past Tom Heaton into the bottom left hand corner.

A thoroughly frustrating afternoon for the Villans as Dean Smith’s side were consistently complacent as well as fatigued with the East Midland visitors punishing the home side with their pace and precision. For the first time this season I don’t believe that any player in claret and blue deserved my Man of the Match award today.

Despite Leicester’s quality prevailing throughout this Premier League fixture, for many of the home fans Villa’s reluctance to test Schmeichel became frustrating, Dean Smith’s attack continually passing the ball around the Foxes’ penalty area and not possessing an instinct in front of goal. The home side were static, complacent and disorganised with Brendan Rodgers’ side left with lots of space to attack into which resulted in the 4–1 scoreline.

Ultimately the Villans need to significantly improve in order to pick up any points at Bramall Lane next week. Even though Aston Villa have played against the toughest sides in the division over the past two months, if the performances are similar to today then unfortunately we could be contemplating relegation at the end of the season.