Aston Villa came from behind to beat Leeds 2-1 at Elland Road to lift themselves into the Premier League’s top four.
Morgan Rogers continues to typify Villa’s impressive resurgence after a winless start to the campaign, taking until matchweek five to even score a goal, and netted twice in a second-half turnaround in Yorkshire.
Leeds were good value for their lead after Lukas Nmecha benefitted from a hashed clearance from Ezri Konsa in the eighth minute, needing VAR to ratify the goal after Emiliano Martinez claimed to be fouled, and showed plenty of intent to inflict further damage via Brenden Aaronson, who flashed an effort wide before drawing a decent save from Martinez.
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Lukas Nmecha bundles home a scrappy opener to give Leeds the lead
Villa were comfortably second best. But Unai Emery, a notoriously shrewd operator, was not about to pass up the chance to move within a point of Manchester City in third, making half-time adjustments that altered the course of the game in his favour.
Three minutes after the restart substitute Donyell Malen had helped Rogers land the equaliser and the latter arrowed a stunning free-kick – won by Ross Barkley off the bench – beyond Lucas Perri to seal three precious points.
A fifth defeat in six will only increase the pressure on under-fire Leeds boss Daniel Farke as they sit in the relegation zone, while Villa continue to make inroads at the opposite end after a sixth win in seven.
Rogers double completes comeback
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Morgan Rogers squeezes home the leveller for Villa
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Rogers puts Aston Villa in front with a deft free-kick from the edge of the box
Standout performer: Morgan Rogers
It has been a really productive fortnight for Rogers, one of three or four hopeful forwards trying to make the No 10 position for England theirs under Thomas Tuchel. On recent evidence, Rogers may well have leapt to the front of the queue, doing his chances no harm with a second-half masterclass, scoring twice from an xG value of just 0.22. He also made eight defensive contributions.
Rogers celebrates his equaliser early into the second half
Tidying up his distribution and being stronger in duels might help advance the cause further, but no doubt the 23-year-old offers wonderful creativity and sustained goal threat. The odds of him being an England starter at next summer’s World Cup must be shortening.
Is Farke under pressure?
No doubt questions are being asked of Farke after conceding another lead. The exact same thing happened two weeks ago: Nmecha scores early but Leeds emerge with nothing, dropping eight points from winning positions this season.
Asked if he was feeling the pressure post-match, the German said no more than normal.
“Feeling the pressure? No, in terms of pressure, the first day you walk through the door you have pressure,” he told reporters. “This is not a topic for me. We want to work on this level. You have to deal with pressure. If you can’t handle the heat, don’t go into the kitchen.
“This doesn’t influence one per cent our work. For me, it’s important that we concentrate on what we have to do, what we have to improve. We’ve shown that we have enough to be competitive in this league also in this game, we’ve shown this.
“We have to be better in the decisive moments, and this is definitely something that we have to improve to win more points.”
Do Villa belong in top four?
Emery has insisted Villa are not top-four contenders despite finishing the weekend a point shy of third-placed Man City, showing resilience to once again come from behind. Only Brighton (10) have gained more points than Villa (nine) from losing positions this season, winning three of their last four games when conceding first.
“We are not contenders, [that] is the reality,” Emery said. “But the last year we were there, and this year it’s our ambition to be there as well.
“Today we got it, but still a lot of matches to play and, of course, still the difficulties we are going to face in Premier League and today is an example. Hopefully we can show our fight how we did the last years, this year as well.
“I think the key is to feel again confident and to feel comfortable. In the second half, we changed something, we go to their box and we score quick. How we managed the second half is something different.”