I have been hoping for another striker with a similar style to that of Gerry Hitchens and Andy Gray for many years, and I'm beginning to feel that at last we have that player in Ollie.
Yes, the likes of Tony Hateley, Peter Withe and Christian Benteke should never be forgotten - neither the value of Derek Dougan, Andy Lochhead, Dion Dublin, JPA and a few others - but in Ollie we see the goalscorer with a true sniffer technique (thinking there of Allan 'Sniffer' Clarke, the Walsall man who should, surely, have become a Villan, but didn't).
Which other striker we have had in recent years would actually have been very ready to bury that chance that came from a lovely Luiz-Barkley combination; to charge in and thump the ball home like that? It was a glorious goal in its energy and accuracy from the build-up to the finish, and his second goal was also taken with great aplomb, thanks to Jack's great drive forward.
Yes, the Arsenal side we saw yesterday was nothing like those we saw a few years ago, but they will come back, I'm sure, and there were a couple of moments in the first half when they could have come back. But they didn't have Ollie Watkins as their striker!
At the MotD desk, poor Ian Wright was a most forlorn figure and so exasperated with his old team, but he admitted that the Villa were great on the night.
I did feel so, so sorry for Trez again last night. He has been popping up and throwing all kinds of good stuff against opposing keepers in the last 2 or 3 games, but yet again he has a credit snatched away from him when he, really, should have been given the credit i.m.o. He made it happen after that delicious build-up from the left.
It was so nearly a perfect display from Villa, with John McGinn doing more than his share, but just once or twice in the first half, the Villa rearguard were just a little too much generous to the opposition.
If we can maintain this kind of form for the whole season - with the odd blip no doubt - I will be a very happy Villan!
UTV!
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