'When he has': Gary Lineker gives his verdict on Jhon Duran's performances when he starts for Aston Villa

Jhon Duran scored his 12th goal of the season for Aston Villa during their 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the weekend.

Given his excellent form for Aston Villa as a substitute, it only felt as if it would be a matter of time until Unai Emery eventually succumbed to starting Duran in the club’s most important games.

Of course, that decision has meant that Ollie Watkins, who has arguably been the club’s best player over the last two or three years, is now simply watching on from the sidelines.

Fortunately, Villa have a lot of games this season, but it’s still a difficult situation for Emery to manage, even if it’s also a ‘positive problem’ for the Spaniard.

Watkins has also looked dangerous this season, however he’s not quite striking the ball with the same belief and finesse as his Colombian counterpart, who has simply been sublime.

Gary Lineker thinks Jhon Duran passed a big test vs Man City

That being said, Gary Lineker made some interesting comments about Duran on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast after his display against Man City.

Villa fans have rarely seen Duran start in the Premier League this season, and Lineker thought that the 21-year-old proved yet another facet to his game on Saturday.

READ MORE: Aston Villa player labelled ‘absolutely magnificent’ as Pep Guardiola gives ‘so strong’ verdict

Speaking with Alan Shearer, Lineker said: “I think the other thing about Duran is that we often see players don’t we, that come on, make a difference, score goals when they come on as a substitute. 

“And then it’s a different thing when they start the game. It’s not quite because it’s harder when you know, if you come on when people are tired in the last half an hour, you get one or two more opportunities to score.

“But starting a game is different when everyone’s fresh. But you thought, right, okay, let’s see what happens when he starts a game. And when he has, he’s delivered.”

Shearer replied: “He was a right handful as well yesterday. I thought, well, yeah, they say he defenders, they couldn’t handle him. I thought he was absolutely superb.”

Jhon Duran is outpeforming Ollie Watkins this season

Daniel Sturridge was also impressed with Duran – a striker who is capturing attention all across Europe right now.

And despite playing considerably less minutes this season, it’s clear that Duran is now outperforming Watkins up top, who is probably surprised to be in this situation himself.

Watkins still has the edge in terms of creating chances for his teammates, but in terms of goals alone, Duran is making much better use of his minutes.

Of course, this isn’t a reason to criticise Watkins, who is still performing very well, just that Duran is truly hitting world-class levels in front of goal right now.

That being said, a different Aston Villa player was crucial against Man City in Emery’s midfield, someone who has made a huge impact since returning from injury.