Matt Maher comment: Deja vu as Aston Villa triumph for second time

Were it not for the different setting, different kits and opponents, you might have been forgiven for thinking you had been transported back to a fortnight previously.

At Leicester, just as at West Ham on the opening day, £50million record signing Amadou Onana put the visitors ahead when he finished off a smartly-worked set piece routine, before Jhon Duran came off the bench to score the decisive goal to earn Villa a 2-1 victory.

Just as at the London Stadium, Unai Emery’s team missed chances which would have made the closing stages a lot more comfortable.

For the second week running, the best of them fell to Ollie Watkins but just as in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal the Saturday before, he was unable to capitalise.

Typically, you would file Watkins’ profligacy in the negative column and the striker, of whom there is no greater critic than himself, will certainly be doing so.

Yet no-one around Villa really believes the 28-year-old’s barren run will continue. On both occasions at the King Power Stadium, Watkins was thwarted by either smart or impressive goalkeeping from Mads Hermansen.

As the cliche goes, it would be more of a concern if he wasn’t getting in position to score. There is some encouragement to be taken in the fact Villa have managed to win two out of three matches without last season’s star man on top form.

The easy counter argument, of course, is they would almost certainly be sitting alongside Manchester City with a perfect record of three wins from three were Watkins firing on all cylinders.

Duran’s early-season form has ensured Villa, home defeat to Arsenal aside, haven’t suffered further frustration across the season’s opening weeks.

Only a month ago it looked likely the Colombia international would be playing elsewhere yet the improved focus of which Emery and team-mates have spoken has been evident on the pitch.

Duran needed only two minutes and two touches to make his impact on Saturday, rising to steer Lucas Digne’s cross over Hermansen and into the top corner.

It was a goal which gave Villa breathing space in a second half which got scrappier the longer it went on and though a Leicester substitute, Facundo Buonanotte, pulled one back there were, in truth, few genuine scares in the closing stages, no matter how much the hosts complained about referee David Coote.

Foxes boss Steve Cooper used his post-match interviews to bemoan the standard of Premier League officiating, yet it felt like a half-hearted effort at distraction.

The one decision the hosts perhaps had some grounds for complaint was in the award of the free-kick which led to Villa’s opener, though even then it wasn’t clear how much of the ball Oliver Skipp made contact when lunging in to challenge Watkins.

Of greater concern to Cooper should be the way his team defended the set piece, yet big credit should also go to Villa and their set piece guru, Austin MacPhee, who has enjoyed a strong start to the season.

With Leicester anticipating a cross into the box, Youri Tielemans instead played a cleverly disguised pass into the late run of Jacob Ramsey. MacPhee’s designs are deliberately flexible and had Ramsey’s first touch been better, the midfielder would have had the option to shoot at goal himself. Instead, it took him wide but that worked out too as he was able to pull the ball back low across the box for a sliding Onana to convert.

The 23-year-old scored only four goals in 72 appearances for Everton but now has two in three for Villa, in large part thanks to the work of MacPhee.

While Onana has been among the biggest positives of Villa’s first three matches, it is midfield partner Tielemans who has quietly been their most consistent performer. Facing his former club for the first time on Saturday, the Belgium international was the tidiest passer on a pitch where both teams were guilty of losing possession too easily.

It was Tielemans’ through-ball which set up the first chance for Watkins inside the opening two minutes and his performance meant Villa were the only team who ever had any real control on proceedings.

Ross Barkley also did well after being introduced alongside Duran and the positive impact of Villa’s subs felt significant with the depth of their squad now set to be further tested by injury.

A week after Matty Cash was lost for around a month with a hamstring strain, on Saturday it was Leon Bailey who made an early exit after appearing to pull the same muscle when stretching to block a clearance inside the opening 15 minutes.

Ramsey, who replaced the Jamaica international off the bench, went on to have a big hand in both goals and will surely make his first start of the season when Everton visit Villa Park a week on Saturday should Bailey not be available.

The opening weeks of the campaign have been played at a sedate pace compared to what follows. After three matches in a fortnight, Villa play seven times in the space of three weeks upon the resumption after the international break and make their much-anticipated debut in the Champions League.

That period will tell us far more about where things are headed. Three games in, there are more reasons to be cheerful than not.