On Thursday night, the team fought and crawled their way to an incredible shootout win over Lille to book their ticket in the semi-finals.
Understandably, goalkeeper and hero on the night, Emiliano Martinez stole the headlines for his two stunning saves as he came back to haunt the people of France.
But, amongst all of that, Ollie Watkins also did his job and scored his penalty that played a part in Villa’s victory.
Ahead of Euro 2024, that’s a signal to a certain Gareth Southgate that he can put away pressure penalties.
Ahead of Euro 2024, that’s a signal to a certain Gareth Southgate that he can put away pressure penalties.
Yet, the same nonsense keeps getting spouted out by certain parts of the media when it comes to Watkins’ England striker battle with Ivan Toney.
Glenn Murray claimed on BBC Sport that he would pick the Brentford man over the 19-goal Premier League striker because of his ability from the spot.
When Ahmed Elmohamady heard this, he hit out at those claims by saying ‘what’s going on here’ and labelled it ‘embarrassing’ on Twitter.
Rightfully so, the Villa ambassador is calling out such nonsense and defending a player who should be in with a shout for Player of the Year.
Ollie Watkins v Ivan Toney
“When comparing between 2 players in the same position and preferring one of them over another because he’s good on penalties,” said Elmohamday. “What’s going on here, it’s embarrassing.”