Steven Gerrard has told BBC Sport that Jacob Ramsey has a bright future in football after the Aston Villa midfielder delivered an ‘outstanding’ performance in their win at Norwich.
The Villans travelled to Carrow Road on Tuesday night seeking to beat their former coach Dean Smith’s new side. Gerrard replaced the Canaries boss at Villa Park last month, before the 50-year-old reappeared in Norfolk after only a week.
Goals from Ramsey and Ollie Watkins ensured Gerrard had the bragging rights over Smith come full-time. The midfielder broke the deadlock with a superb solo goal after 34-minutes when the 20-year-old ran through the Norwich half, before firing in at Tim Krul’s near post.
Watkins assisted Ramsey’s strike before netting himself in the 87th-minute to ensure Aston Villa took three-points at Norwich. The striker left Krul with no chance of denying him again after smothering an earlier header, with the 25-year-old tapping in from close-range.
Ramsey impresses Gerrard in Aston Villa win vs Norwich
Ramsey and Watkins were heavily involved in the action throughout Aston Villa’s win over Norwich. The former’s efforts particularly impressed Gerrard having shown many aspects of his game at Carrow Road, along with scoring.
“He scored a fantastic goal,” Gerrard said at full-time. “I thought his all-round performance was outstanding. He has a bright future, for sure.”
Gerrard to reap the gains of Smith’s Ramsey decision
Ramsey constantly took the game to Norwich, and the Aston Villa gem earned the reward for his efforts by scoring. He has now struck five goals in 50 first-team appearances across all competitions (43 for Villa, 7 for Doncaster on loan), despite not scoring at home yet.
Only Watkins attempted more shots at Carrow Road on Tuesday night than Ramsey, too. The forward tried his luck six times to the midfielder’s four attempts, per WhoScored. They also had the most shots on target with three and two each respectively.
Ramsey also made more tackles (2) than teammate Douglas Luiz (2), won more aerial duels (2) than Tyrone Mings (1) and completed more dribbles (1) than Watkins (0) in East Anglia.
Smith gave Ramsey his senior breakthrough at Aston Villa, now Gerrard will reap the gains of the Norwich boss’ decision.
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