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Opinion
Aston Villa fans say two players were truly ‘immense’ alongside Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford in win over Chelsea
Aston Villa gave their hopes of European qualification a shot in the arm thanks to their 2-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday evening.
New Aston Villa signings Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford combined twice to cancel out Enzo Fernandez’s ninth-minute opener and give the hosts all three points.
Chelsea opened the scoring when Pedro Neto whipped in a low cross across the face of goal which Fernandez prodded past Emiliano Martinez.
The Blues led until the 57th minute, when Rashford tapped a Matty Cash delivery across the six-yard box for Asensio to bundle into the net.
Then, on 89 minutes, Rashford once again assisted Asensio to fire home as Filip Jorgensen allowed his first-time effort to go underneath him.
Although Rashford and Asensio took most of the plaudits, Villa fans were also eager to praise two other players who impressed on the day.
READ MORE: Peter Schmeichel shares what ‘still sits badly’ with him about his time at Aston Villa
Aston Villa fans wowed by John McGinn and Youri Tielemans
The players in question were John McGinn and Youri Tielemans, who have been shining as the midfield duo in the absence of so many other players.
One fan wrote on X: “McGinn and Youri deserve a bonus of some kind. Absolute monsters what they’re having to do at the moment.”
Another said: “Huge effort on Wednesday. To come back and win that game can’t be underestimated. McGinn and Youri wow.”
The praise kept coming, with one fan saying: “McGinn and Youri unreal. I can’t rate the performance from them enough.
“McGinn has just bossed Caicedo and Enzo after Liverpool midweek.
“Buzzing for the impact of Rashford and Asensio, showing end product is key.”
Another said: “He (McGinn) and Tielemans are putting in such a shift in midfield for so many games back-to-back.
“Doing brilliantly while we wait to get Barkley/Onana/Kamara back.”
Another supporter said, on the subject of when Villa’s midfield injury crisis eases: “It’s a great problem to have! At the moment McGinn and Tielemans have been immense.”
How McGinn and Tielemans fared against Chelsea
McGinn’s energy and workrate on the day was immense once again as he won plenty of duels and fouls, and was also accurate in his passing.
Likewise, Tielemans put in a superb shift, making the most tackles out of any player in the match and also weighing in with an impressive amount of duel wins.
| McGinn | Tielemans | ||
| Minutes played | 90′ | Minutes played | 90′ |
| Touches | 68 | Touches | 93 |
| Accurate passes | 47/52 (90%) | Accurate passes | 64/75 (85%) |
| Key passes | 0 | Key passes | 2 |
| Crosses (acc.) | 0 (0) | Crosses (acc.) | 1 (1) |
| Long balls (acc.) | 3 (2) | Long balls (acc.) | 5 (2) |
| Big chances created | 0 | Big chances created | 1 |
| Shots on target | 0 | Shots on target | 0 |
| Shots off target | 1 | Shots off target | 0 |
| Shots blocked | 0 | Shots blocked | 0 |
| Dribble attempts (succ.) | 2 (2) | Dribble attempts (succ.) | 2 (1) |
| Ground duels (won) | 16 (10) | Ground duels (won) | 13 (9) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 1 (1) | Aerial duels (won) | 1 (1) |
| Possession lost | 7 | Possession lost | 14 |
| Fouls | 5 | Fouls | 1 |
| Was fouled | 4 | Was fouled | 3 |
| Clearances | 1 | Clearances | 2 |
| Blocked shots | 0 | Blocked shots | 0 |
| Interceptions | 0 | Interceptions | 1 |
| Total tackles | 4 | Total tackles | 5 |
| Dribbled past | 0 | Dribbled past | 0 |
Villa are next in action on Tuesday night when they head to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The fixtures will keep on coming thick and fast, with Cardiff City in the FA Cup next Friday night and Club Brugge in the Champions League the following Tuesday.