Aston Villa 1-0 Swansea City: Player Ratings on Boxing Day victory

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 23: Tammy Abraham of Aston Villa reacts during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Leeds United at Villa Park on December 23, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 23: Tammy Abraham of Aston Villa reacts during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Leeds United at Villa Park on December 23, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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Aston Villa rebounded from a weekend defeat to overcome Swansea City 1-0 on Boxing Day. It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t need to be for all three points.

Ørjan Nyland, Aston Villa’s maligned goalkeeper, was the hero on Boxing Day with a penalty save minutes before the final whistle.

Without that save on Wilfried Bony, and a comfortable first-half under duress, Villa surely would be leaving Wales with a point or less.

It wasn’t a good performance, to say the least, but the cardiac defense held firm to keep a clean sheet.

Dean Smith called upon a mostly-unchanged starting XI – with Anwar El Ghazi replacing Jonathan Kodjia as the lone switch. The match started innocuously enough with a ‘boring’ opening ten minutes or so. Swansea controlled possession, but Villa blocked shots and wouldn’t allow wingers Bersant Celina and Daniel James through.

That’s just about how the first-half went as the claret and blues fell out of it quickly. The last five minutes before break rejuvenated a team that otherwise may have made a change.

The winning goal was created by Yannick Bolasie in the 65th-minute. The on-loan Everton winger dribbled through Zone 14 before weighing a lovely weight ball down the left wing for Alan Hutton. Hutton’s left-footed cross found Conor Hourihane surging through the box. His bullet header caromed off the crossbar for a goal, 1-0 Aston Villa.

Swansea earned a penalty on the 88th after Anwar El Ghazi stupidly jumped on a player inside the box – in an attempt to clear. Bony stepped up, and Nyland saved.