Aston Villa beat Swansea City 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has told Sky Sports that he thinks goalkeeper Orjan Nyland can ‘take a lot’ from the 1-0 win over Swansea City after making ‘some very good saves’.
Villa were in action under new boss Smith for the first time on Saturday afternoon, as whilst he was appointed as Steve Bruce’s replacement earlier this month, the international break meant he had to wait for his bow.
A boyhood Villa fan, Smith will have been somewhat emotional making his debut as Villa boss in front of a packed home crowd, and he got off to a dream start with a 1-0 win.
The winner came early; Ahmed Elmohamady’s right-wing cross was turned home by Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham, and that was enough to give Villa three points in Smith’s first game.
A home win and a clean sheet was pretty much exactly what Smith will have been hoping for, and whilst Abraham grabbed the headlines with the winner, Smith also wanted to praise one player who has been heavily criticised this season.
Goalkeeper Nyland arrived from German side Ingolstadt in August but has struggled to impress, with fans slating the Norwegian on a regular basis since his arrival.
However, Smith gave another chance to Nyland on Saturday, with Villa needing to get the best out of a goalkeeper that Bruce revealed he had been trying to sign for four years, even back to his Hull City days.
Nyland didn’t hit any sort of heights under Bruce, but starred under Smith on Saturday, with the new Villa boss telling Sky Sports that he felt Nyland made ‘very good saves’ to keep his side in front, feeling that he can now take a lot from such a good performance.
“My goalkeeper made some very good saves,” said Smith. “The clean sheet is a big thing for us having conceded a lot of goals this season. Nyland can take a lot from this game,” he added.
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