Aston Villa' lesson on how not to defend in the opposition's half

BeSoccer 4 years ago 604
Welbeck scored his first of the season. Screenshot/DAZN

Danny Welbeck scored one of the easiest goals of his career this Saturday. Aston Villa left their line way too high, forgot about the offside trap and ended up leaving the former Arsenal player alone to take the lead against Brighton after a long sprint.

Almost in a tribute to Manchester United, Aston Villa once again gave a lesson on how not to defend with a high line. And it did so in the most basic way: by putting all of their players in the opposite half.

In the 12th minute of the match against Brighton, Dean Smith's players kept the possession when a loss of possession deep in the opponent's half of the field cost him the 0-1, courtesy of Danny Welbeck.

The ball went to Lallana and Villa's defenders, aware of their bad positioning pounced on the former Liverpool player, who sent a powerful ball upfield for the Englishman.

It didn't matter if Welbeck started ahead or behind Aston Villa's last defender, Matthew Cash, because he was in his own half. And the striker only had to run towards the goal completely alone to beat Emi Martinez.

This was also the first goal of the season for Welbeck, who is looking for redemption after a disastrous year at Watford, where he did not settle after leaving Arsenal through the back door.

Mentioned in the news story

Premier League
Brighton & Hove Albion
Danny Welbeck