Ashley Young was certainly put through his paces by Leeds United youngster Wilfried Gnonto on Friday night. The Aston Villa right-back was involved in an intriguing and entertaining tussle with the Italian throughout the clash at Villa Park with Young ultimately getting the last laugh as Unai Emery’s side claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win.
Gnonto was the man being singled out for praise after the game, though, with Sky Sports’ pundit Gary Neville describing the 19-year-old’s performance ‘absolutely fantastic’. The winger was a constant threat throughout the contest, working Young with his strong, driving runs and he had to ride some hefty challenges as Villa attempted to stop him in his tracks.
He had a huge say in Leeds’ only goal of the game, too, turning away from Young, driving into the area and assisting Patrick Bamford with a well-timed pass into the area. The clash was only Gnonto’s fifth Premier League start for the Whites and his efforts weren’t enough to see Leeds over the line in the West Midlands, but he certainly gave former England international Young a tough evening.
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“It was a good battle,” Young told Sky Sports after the game. “I was feeling my back at half-time but it’s one of them, the manager’s put me in the team to have battles like that.
“I’m just delighted with the three points tonight and like I say Leon (Bailey) was superb, everyone was superb and we’re just delighted to get three points.”
He added: “I think we knew it was going to be tough against this Leeds side, we know what comes with the games against Villa, they’re always a bit feisty but we was up for the fight tonight and I think every man from goalkeeper to forwards was fantastic. I’m not sure if there was a foul [on me] in the build-up to their goal but we had to dig in, we had to dig deep and we’ve done superbly tonight.”
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