In the only all-Premier League affair to take place in last night’s EFL Cup, it was Aston Villa who came away with the spoils, beating Brighton 3-1 at the Amex Stadium.
Goals from Conor Hourihane, Jota and substitute Jack Grealish sealed a convincing win for Dean Smith’s men against Graham Potter’s weakened Seagulls side in east Sussex.
The performance of summer signing Matt Targett may not have made its way into the headlines, though it was certainly worthy of note. The left-back, signed from Southampton in the summer, is yet to make his official Premier League bow for the West Midlanders, limited to just two appearances in the EFL Cup so far this term.
Targett limped off with a hamstring injury after 43 minutes during Villa’s 6-1 demolition job on Crewe Alexandra last month, but featured throughout the whole of last night’s clash against Brighton.
The 24-year-old registered two shots (one on target), two key passes, two successful dribbles and a pass completion rate of 97.1% last night – higher than anyone else on the pitch, barring centre-half Kortney Hause (97.6%) – in an overall mature performance for the Villans on the south coast (via WhoScored).
With current first-choice left-back Neil Taylor struggling for form, having kept just one clean sheet in all six of his Premier League appearances this term, alongside registering no assists and just 2.2 clearances per game so far (5.8 less than fellow defender Tyrone Mings), manager Dean Smith could look to Targett this weekend when the club welcome Burnley to Villa Park.
These Villa fans would certainly like to see more of the Englishman:
Matt Targett started off so many attacks tonight, offers so much more and has to start Saturday #avfc
— AVFC (@Mxginn) September 25, 2019
Matt Targett has to start now, Mings and Engels can handle defence all by themselves https://t.co/Vap7vg0Vyf
— Raj Mattu (@RajSMattu) September 26, 2019
Did you notice how he didn’t wanna cross? Matt Targett drove into space and called for it. Neil was stood still and only moved when the ball was played. The difference in both mentality and quality is staggering
— Fake (@JACKGREALlSH) September 22, 2019
Villa fans, would you like to see Targett given more of a chance in the first-team? Let us know below!
