'Really good tonight': Rio Ferdinand wowed by £15m Aston Villa player's efforts in tonight's Champions League win

09/17/2024 03:30 PM

Aston Villa are firmly up and running in the revamped Champions League thanks to their 3-0 victory away at Young Boys.

The Villans were competing in their first European top-tier game in 41 years and they couldn’t have got off to a better start.

Villa opened the scoring in the 27th minute of the game as their training-ground work on set-pieces well and truly paid off.

Lucas Digne played the corner short to John McGinn, who looped the ball deep for Youri Tielemans to fire in at the far post.

Unai Emery's charges then added a second through Jacob Ramsey, who applied the finishing touch in the 38th minute after a goalmouth scramble.

Villa could have been three up by the break, but Ollie Watkins' superb effort was ruled out due to a controversial handball decision.

Jhon Duran then had the ball in the back of the net on 78 minutes, but this was also ruled out because of Amadou Onana's handball, a clearer decision this time.

Villa’s perseverance paid off as they got their third goal of the night on 87 minutes, Onana firing from distance into the bottom corner of the hosts' net.

Rio Ferdinand hails ‘very good’ Aston Villa ace Morgan Rogers

The plaudits came in thick and fast after the game, with Rio Ferdinand hailing Villa’s efforts and singling Morgan Rogers out for praise.

The pundit told TNT Sports that he felt the £15million man (BBC Sport) was “really good” on the night, and was overall impressed by how the Villans fared in attack.

“The confidence came, the first 20, 30 minutes of the game was a settling-in period,” said Ferdinand.

“I think the pitch played a part in that, Champions League night [as well], there is a lot of inexperience in this team at this level.

“They grew into it and Morgan Rogers I thought was really good tonight. Attacking wise, they caused problems all day for Young Boys.

“This won't be their toughest test, but they had to get through this one. Bayern Munich up next at Villa Park – that place is going to be rocking!

“I'm really looking forward to seeing how this pans out for this Aston Villa team who are growing well under Unai Emery.”

What did the media say about Morgan Rogers?

The Birmingham Mail gave Rogers a 7 out of 10 for his efforts on the night.

‘Rogers played a fantastic ball into Watkins’ path in the 29th minute, but the striker couldn’t get a clean connection on his strike,’ they wrote.

‘Six minutes later, Rogers was probably too unselfish when he tried to find Watkins in the box instead of shooting with his left foot.’

Meanwhile, Birmingham World went with an 8 out of 10 rating.

‘Unplayable when driving forward on the ball, creating so many opportunities and showing off countless nice touches,’ they wrote.

‘Needed to be more selfish on a couple of occasions, however, as he tried to square to Watkins but could've had a go himself.’

READ MORE:Lee Hendrie's emphatic verdict on Aston Villa's Champions League win at Young Boys

What next for Aston Villa?

Villa are next in action on Saturday 21 September, with a West Midlands derby on the cards.

Emery's charges host Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3pm Premier League kick-off at Villa Park.