Cash at the double as Villa cruise to 3-1 victory at Turf Moor

Aston Villa moved up to 7th in the Premier League after a dominant display earned them a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Unai Emery hailed Villa’s “strong offensive and defensive structure” as they imposed themselves onto Burnley from the outset on Sunday afternoon.

Emery noted how Villa aimed to be more direct in their build-up play in order to negate Burnley’s man-to-man marking.

This directness was on show for Aston Villa’s opening goal inside eight minutes, as the host’s defence was sliced open by a pass over the top from the fantastic John McGinn. The ball fell at the feet of the onrushing Ollie Watkins who then dinked a pass over the advancing James Trafford in the Burnley goal for Matty Cash to slide into an empty net.

Aston Villa’s fluidity on show

One of the trademarks of the Spaniard’s team is how calm every player is when receiving the ball in tight spaces. The 19-pass move that led to the visitors’ and Cash’s second in the 20th minute shows how assured and composed Villa are as a team.

Nine players were involved as Villa passed the ball between the thirds and eventually Moussa Diaby found the Polish international in the box and he slammed the ball in at the near post to double the advantage.

Cash was one of the main beneficiaries from a slight tweak to Aston Villa’s shape against Burnley, as Ezri Konsa was played as a hybrid centre-half on the right side of a three-man defense alongside Pau Torres and Diego Carlos, which allowed Cash and fellow fullback Lucas Digne to operate much higher up the pitch and create overloads in Burnley’s half.

The change in shape worked a treat as Cash marked his 100th Villa appearance with two goals and Digne provided an assist as Diaby made the game safe with the goal to make it 3-1 in the second half.

Classy centre-halfs revolutionise the Villans

The arrival of Torres from Villarreal in the summer and the reintroduction of Carlos into the fold after injury has boosted Villa immensely as the two central defenders have exceptional ball-playing ability. This, in turn, has aided the Villans’ build-up play as they are able to hold onto the ball long enough to draw opposition forwards out and then have the ability to play precise and penetrative passes into midfield in order to set the team onto the attack.

Both Torres and Carlos were pivotal players in Villa’s first-half dominance as they drew Burnley out of their shape and opened up space for the midfield to attack and exploit.

Villa hold firm

Emery will have been delighted with the resilience his team showed to weather a storm of early second-half pressure from the hosts which culminated in South African forward Lyle Foster reducing the deficit after rolling Torres and guiding an angled effort past Robin Olsen.

Torres will need to work on his 1v1 defending as he was beaten too easily by Foster but his on-the-ball ability more than makes up for any defensive teething problems in the early stages of his Premier League career.

Villa managed to ride out a 10-minute spell after the hosts’ goal when they looked flustered and Torres was involved as they quickly reasserted their dominance and two-goal cushion in the 61st minute.

The centre-back found McGinn who showed strength to hold off Josh Cullen and release Digne down the left. Digne’s cutback pass found Diaby in acres of space on the edge of the Burnley box and he cooly slotted the ball into the corner.

Lions could have had more

The visitors had several chances to add further gloss to the scoreline in the game’s final quarter as Watkins and new signing Nicolo Zaniolo, who gave the team even more attacking spark after his introduction, both spurned presentable openings.

The fact that Villa didn’t sit on the two-goal lead and instead pressed for more goals rather than invite pressure was one of the most pleasing aspects of the win, as Villa teams of the past would have sat deeper after scoring and inevitably caved.

Emery’s Villa team are a different beast however, and the tactical flexibility they showed to settle into the change of shape will have delighted their coach as they swarmed all over their hosts for the majority of the match.

Villa forced Vincent Kompany’s men back at every opportunity and gave them no time on the ball, by compressing the play via their familiar high line and playing the game in Burnley’s half.

The fact that they still expect Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno to come back from injury and add further options to their armoury is an exciting prospect.

Villa’s top-six credentials will be tested by their visit to Anfield to face Liverpool next week, but with the confident swagger that they are playing with they’ll fancy that they can \take a result against Jurgen Klopp’s side. Claim 3 points there and the sky really will be the limit for this upwardly mobile team.