Henri Lansbury was the star of the show as Aston Villa beat Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup – but was John Ruddy to blame?
Darren Bent has hailed Henri Lansbury after the Aston Villa midfielder made a real difference in a rare start during Wednesday’s EFL Cup fourth-round victory against Midland rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, speaking to Quest (30 October, 10pm).
It is almost three years since Lansbury joined Villa from Nottingham Forest for around £2.75 million, as reported by the BBC, though the long-serving Englishman has found game time increasingly hard to come by in claret and blue.
The former City Ground skipper has played just seven minutes of Premier League football this season but reminded everyone of his match-winning potential when Wolves arrived at Villa Park.
It was Lansbury’s beautifully weighted through ball which set up Anwar El Ghazi’s opener as Dean Smith’s side ran out 2-1 winners, though an impressive display was tainted somewhat as he missed a glorious headed chance late on.
“(Lansbury) was really, really good,” said former Villa striker Bent. “He could have got a goal himself but you see his passes.
“He hasn’t had much game time this season but that pass (for the El Ghazi goal) is absolutely superb.”
Wolves’ stand-in goalkeeper John Ruddy failed to get a strong enough hand on the opener and was arguably at fault for Villa’s winner too when Ahmed Elmohamady’s flick caught him out at the near post.
But while Bent has admitted that the former England international probably should have done better, he believes that a lack of match-sharpness was the main reason why he failed to keep out either of the goals that Wolves conceded.
“I’ve seen Ruddy look a lot sharper and when he watches that back he’ll be disappointed. He’s a very good goalkeeper and he was brilliant when they got promoted but (the mistake) is probably down to a lack of game time.”
Aston Villa will now play Liverpool in the quarter-final on December 17th and Lansbury will hope that he’s done enough to be involved.
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