View: 45% duels won & just one tackle – 25y/o West Brom star has horror night v Villa
Darnell Furlong had a night to forget as Aston Villa won 3-0 during Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of West Brom.
Not much went right for the Baggies on Sunday night and unfortunately for Furlong, he was at the heart of a lot that went wrong for the home side.
Allardyce named an unchanged side from the team that drew away to Manchester City, but we saw none of the defensive organisation that was on show against Pep Guardiola’s side.
Furlong has been one of West Brom’s top performers this season, he ranks inside the Baggies’ top five players for WhoScored match rating so far.
However, he suffered a whole host of problems against Villa, with the first coming inside the opening five minutes.
Furlong failed to track the run of Anwar El Ghazi at the back post and the Villa winger managed to volley home at an awkward angle, in what should have been a routine cross for Furlong to defend.
Meanwhile, for the third Villa goal, there was not much of an effort to stop Jack Grealish in his tracks before he laid the ball on a plate for Bertrand Traore late on.
Speaking after the game, Allardyce was clearly not impressed, bemoaning the ‘ball watching’ from the Albion defence.
The defender also felt the wrath of some West Brom supporters at half time after struggling in the first 45 minutes.
Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, things did not improve as the game went on. He attempted eight aerial duels – more than any other Baggies player – but only won 50% of them, as per Wyscout.
He won 45% of his duels in general and struggled to contain El Ghazi throughout the game, according to Wyscout.
Furlong simply failed to get near Villa when the visitors were going forward, with the former Queens Park Rangers defender completing just one tackle on the night, as per WhoScored.
With a goal and an assist in his last four games, Furlong will hope to better that performance against Villa and be a key figure in Allardyce’s survival bid, but the Baggies need a big improvement and fast.
In other West Brom news, ‘League Two at best’, ‘Clown’ – Many West Brom fans blast ace who did ‘next to nothing’ v Villa
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.