Aston Villa fans are making the same point about Matty Cash after Champions League win at RB Leipzig
He played in a slightly unfamiliar role.
Aston Villa rose up to third in the Champions League table after triumphing in a five-goal thriller away at RB Leipzig.
Unai Emery’s charges have now secured two historic results against leading German clubs, having also beaten Bayern Munich earlier this season.
Aston Villa were made to work hard for their victory at the Red Bull Arena as they were pegged back twice.
John McGinn opened the scoring for the claret-and-blue side after just three minutes, but the impressive Lois Openda equalised on 27 minutes.
Substitute Jhon Duran scored a wonderful goal to put Villa in front on 52 minutes, only for Christoph Baumgartner to get Leipzig level with an equally good strike.
Ross Barkley then scored an unlikely winner for the Villans, wrong-footing Peter Gulacsi with an 85th-minute effort that took a big deflection off Lukas Klostermann.
All in all, it was an impressive display by most of the Villa players, with one particular star getting a fair bit of praise playing in a slightly unfamiliar role.
Aston Villa fans pleasantly surprised by Matty Cash at right wing
The player in question is Matty Cash, who was named on the right side of the attacking trio just behind the centre-forward.
Cash has played on the right wing before, but it’s always been a bit of a rarity, with most of his outings for Villa coming at right-back.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old gave a great account of himself and even played a key part in the visitors’ early opener with the all-important cross.
Cash’s display had Villa fans singing his praises for how well he did in a relatively unfamiliar position.
One fan said: “I must admit… I do love a bit of Matty Cash on the wing”. Another asked: “Has Emery just unlocked the Cash conundrum?”
The praise kept coming, with one saying: “Cash has been really positive in this advanced role.
“Said it for ages, he’s a much better footballer when he has the confidence to actually run forward.”
Some supporters also made a comparison between Cash and the likes of Leon Bailey and Jade Philogene.
One said: “Matty Cash has been better on the right tonight than either Bailey or Philogene this season.”
In terms of other Villa players, Alan Shearer was critical of Emi Martinez but praised Duran for his great goal.
How the media rated Matty Cash display v RB Leipzig
The Birmingham Mail gave Cash an 8 out of 10 rating for his efforts on the night.
‘Cash operated on the right wing when Villa were in possession and then as a wing-back in the defensive phase,’ they wrote.
‘He produced a brilliant cross with his weaker left side to give Watkins the chance to either head towards goal, or to McGinn, who then scored.’
Meanwhile, Goal.com gave Cash a 7 out of 10 as they wrote: ‘Swung in a great cross for the goal and was a threat on the right wing before tiring in the second half.’
Likewise, The Express went with a 7 and wrote: ‘It was his cross that found Watkins for the opener and then came close to making it 2-0 from a tight angle.
‘But like McGinn, not the same force in the later stages and was taken off.’
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