By Munyaradzi Madzokere
Zimbabwe international midfielder Marvelous Nakamba had another brilliant outing for English Premiership football side Aston Villa after playing the full 90 minutes in the club’s vintage 1-0 win over struggling giants Arsenal at Villa Park yesterday.
It was Nakamba’s third start for the club in a season where he has seen limited game time for the Villans with a total of seven appearances so far.
Interestingly, Villa have managed to keep a clean sheet each time the 27-year-old Zimbabwean has started for the club in this campaign.
Nakamba received rave reviews in his last premier league start against Newcastle a fortnight ago as Villa ran out 2-0 winners on home turf.
The Zimbabwean was heavily linked with a move away from Villa on deadline day for the January transfer window on Monday, but he decided to stay and fight for his place.
An early goal from Ollie Watkins put Villa in the driving seat and also needing a strong defensive performance to protect their slender lead.
Nakamba made six successful tackles out of six attempts and five recoveries as Dean Smith clung on for the big victory against Arsenal.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“The values of being a good team, the work ethic… I thought we saw that in bundles today against a really good offensive team,” Dean Smith said after the match.
“We started with a good intensity that set us up really well. It had to be a good defensive performance, but their keeper had to make some really good saves as well,” he added.
Villa took the lead after 74 seconds when Bertrand Traore pounced on a loose back pass by full-back Cedric Soares and cut the ball back to Watkins, whose first-time effort was deflected past Arsenal’s debutant goalkeeper Mat Ryan.
Arsenal’s best chance to equalise came from a Granit Xhaka free kick which looked destined for the top corner until the Gunners’ former keeper Emiliano Martinez at full stretch pushed it around the post with a fingertip save.
Mikel Arteta introduced Martin Odegaard for Soares, but though the visitors had plenty of promising attacks in the second half, they failed to find the final pass or cross to test Martinez again.
Ryan was also kept busy with Watkins, Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley regularly testing the Australian, who made six saves.
Yesterday’s Results Burnley 1 – 1 Brighton & Hove Newcastle 3 – 2 Southampton Fulham 0 – 0 West Ham Late kick-off Man United v Everton Today’s fixtures Tottenham v West Brom Wolves v Leicester City Liverpool v Manchester City Sheffield United v Chelsea
