Micah Richards admits he was ‘surprised’ by his old Aston Villa teammate Idrissa Gueye scoring in the Champions League on Tuesday night, as he told CBS Sports (28/09/21 at 10:15 pm).
The 32-year-old, who was relegated with Villa in 2016, helped PSG beat Manchester City 2-0 last night.
Gueye was on the same pitch as his former Villa teammate Jack Grealish, with the latter struggling to produce a performance, before he was hauled off in the second half by Pep Guardiola.
But Gueye channelled his inner-Kevin de Bruyne in the first half by keeping his cool when the ball fell to him inside the penalty area, before he opened up his body and his curling his effort zipped into the top corner.
The defensive-minded midfielder is known for winning the ball in the middle of the park and not putting the ball into the back of the net.
But Richards shared that Gueye deserved the goal because of the run he made inside the penalty area.
“I played with Gueye at Villa,” said Richards. “He never showed that at Villa, ever. But he has scored four goals this season.
“It was surprising that he scored. But it’s about making that run and he deserved his goal, in the end, because of his sheer hard work.”
It has been some rise from Gueye, who signed for Everton after Villa dropped down to the Championship.
On Merseyside, he showcased, in a better team, what he is all about and then earned that move to PSG.
And even though he is training with star-studded players, including the likes of Lionel Messi, he is still earning those regular minutes under Mauricio Pochettino.
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