100% long balls, 3/4 ground duels won, 3 key passes: United loanee bounces back brilliantly after midweek nightmare

Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford delivered a far more encouraging performance as Aston Villa cruised to a 3-0 victory over Southampton on Saturday.

Rashford endured a tough outing in Villa’s 3-1 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain, but Unai Emery kept faith in him, handing him a place in the starting lineup against Southampton.

Rashford led the line once more for Villa and was on the pitch for 66 minutes before he was taken off and replaced by Ollie Watkins.

Watkins scored the opener in the 73rd minute, directing a header in at the near post moments after he had won a penalty for Villa that Marco Asensio saw saved by Aaron Ramsdale.

Fellow substitute Donyell Malen doubled Villa’s lead six minutes later with a superb finish into the bottom corner. John McGinn – another substitute – secured the victory for the visitors as he won a second penalty, which Rasmdale again kept out, only for the Scotland midfielder to tap in on the rebound.

Although Rashford’s performance at St Mary’s marked an improvement from his showing in the French capital, he remained largely ineffective in front of goal – a contrast made clear by the immediate impact of Watkins.

The 27-year-old fired two shots, one of which was on target while the other didn’t require Ramsdale to swing into action.

He completed one of the dribbles he embarked on. Rashford touched the ball 33 times and successfully found his teammates with 15 of the 16 passes he attempted (94% pass accuracy).

Three of his passes were key passes.

Rashford connected with two of the six crosses he aimed and the one long ball he pinged. The Carrington academy graduate lost both aerial duels that he contested, although he came out on top in three of the four challenges he vied for on the ground.

He also put in one tackle.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Villa have moved up to fifth in the Premier League and are now just one point behind Manchester City and three behind Nottingham Forest.

Featured image Warren Little via Getty Images

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