Rashford moment speaks volumes as new Champions League reality hits Aston Villa
John Townley
6 – 8 minutes
Aston Villa dropped another two points on Saturday afternoon after being held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys opened the scoring just before the hour mark through Liam Delap despite having Axel Tuanzebe sent off in the first half.
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Not long before the interval, Tuanzebe received his second booking of the game, handing Villa a numerical advantage for the duration of the second period.
Ollie Watkins restored parity for Villa with over 20 minutes of the match remaining as he converted from close range after Marcus Rashford struck the crossbar from a free-kick.
Here are the talking points from Villa’s draw with Ipswich…
Villa fail to build momentum in the league
Villa are on a 12-match unbeaten run at home and had the chance to win their third successive game at Villa Park yesterday.
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But despite going well in the FA Cup and Champions League, Villa haven’t built momentum in the league lately.
Strong results on the road against Everton and Arsenal gave Villa the platform to do just that ahead of facing West Ham and Ipswich at home either side of an away match at Wolves.
But after only taking two points from the nine available in that period, Villa have wasted a few opportunities to make ground on the sides above them.
Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest have all struggled for form in recent weeks, but Villa remain behind them with a goal difference which is bound to be worse than theirs come the end of May.
There’s still 13 games left of the campaign to go and 39 points to play for, but Emery’s side will be targeting more than the 19 points they’ve won from their previous 13 in the final two months of the season.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Fulham all come to Villa Park in the coming days and weeks ahead, while Villa also play the likes of Brighton, Man City and Bournemouth on the road.
Some of those games are ‘six-pointers’ in the race to secure European positions, but staging a push for Champions League qualification will be a tough ask from here.
With so much traffic ahead of Villa, they’ll need to put a stunning run of form together late on in the campaign.
In the last five seasons, an average of 66 points has been enough to finish in fifth place, which is likely to be enough for Champions League qualification this term.
Currently on 38 points, Villa would need to win eight or nine of their last 13 games and take some draws on the way too in order to reach 66.
Villa’s dreadful luck with injuries in defence
In each of Villa’s last five games, Emery has been forced to make a change in the first half or at half-time due to an injury.
Boubacar Kamara is the latest player to suffer an issue as he was forced off in the 16th minute and replaced by Tyrone Mings, who himself returned from injury on Saturday.
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“This week we didn’t play in the week, I think today was not the consequence of playing lots of matches,” Emery said on BBC WM.
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“Today we had one injury of Kamara. I don’t think it is very important, hopefully. I think we have to recover some players and to try and compete with the players we have.
“We are going to try and be competitive and play three days, three days and then three days after.”
Axel Disasi made his debut against Ipswich and played with two different partners, meaning Villa have now had 10 different center-back partnerships.
Ezri Konsa could return from his injury in a week, while Pau Torres is stepping up his recovery after breaking a metatarsal at the end of December.
Villa were without Leon Bailey as the winger had a small pain on Friday, though Emery is hopeful he will be fine to play in the next matches.
Rashford dazzles in the second half
Having impressed in the 25 minutes he played against Tottenham last weekend, Rashford has proven why he deserves to start against Liverpool on Wednesday after an excellent second half display against Ipswich.
His free-kick, which rattled the bar, led to Watkins’ equaliser, while he also created the most chances (four) and completed the most dribbles (three) of any player on the pitch.
He was confident and direct whenever he received the ball, which is something Man United fans hadn’t seen much of in the first half of the season.
A change of environment is clearly working wonders for him already. He didn’t need to kick a ball to win the support of the Villa Park faithful, but his encouraging performances have only strengthened how his new supporters feel.
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The only blot on Rashford’s performance was when he overhit a corner in second half added time as the ball sailed out for a goal kick.
But fans in the corner – where the Holte End meets the Doug Ellis Stand – were quick to pick Rashford up as he showed his frustration, by clapping and encouraging him to carry on. it spoke volumes of the support he has on and off the pitch following his loan switch to Villa.
It’s exactly what he needs on his journey to rediscover his best form and the early signs show that he is capable of doing that.
Claret & Blue verdict
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