Analysis: True team effort shows Aston Villa are more than a one-man band

That is precisely what Villa did at Leeds on Saturday to claim perhaps their most satisfying win of the Premier League so far.

Satisfying because it marked a return to winning ways, on a day when head coach Dean Smith got pretty much every call before and during the match right.

Satisfying because it also avenged Leeds’ 3-0 win at Villa Park back in October, a defeat which remains Villa’s heaviest of the campaign.

And satisfying, most of all, because it was achieved without Jack Grealish, the player whose absence with a shin injury had sparked fears this most enjoyable of seasons might be set to fizzle out.

Grealish is unquestionably Villa’s best player and his evolution this term into one of the Premier League’s standout performers has accelerated the team’s rise from relegation strugglers to possible contenders for European qualification. Of course they were going to miss him.

But Smith was right when, prior to this match, he described the claim Villa were a one-man team as disrespectful. On Saturday, those other players who have been such a huge part of Villa’s success this season pushed their way to fore and hammered home the point, from striker Ollie Watkins who led the line superbly, right back to goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who kept his 13th clean sheet of the season.

The Argentine saved sharply from Tyler Roberts in the first-half but other than a groin issue, which hampered his kicking late on, this was actually one of his easier evenings thanks to the work going on in front of him.

Villa struck early, in the fifth minute, through Anwar El Ghazi, looked the more likely team to score again in a frenetic opening before then holding Leeds at arm’s length with relative ease despite seeing relatively little of the ball.

“One-nil to the Villa” is beginning to get quite the ring. Their last three wins have all been by the scoreline and this was easily the most comfortable. Leeds, who boasted the sixth-best attack in the league and had only twice been shut out on home turf prior to this, mustered just one serious opening in the entire second half and when it arrived in the 89th minute, Raphinha planted his header from Jack Harrison wide of the post.

There was simply no way through, first past a Villa midfield enlivened by the running of Jacob Ramsey and then through a defence marshalled by Tyrone Mings.

Both Ezri Konsa and Matt Targett will have caught the eye of watching England boss Gareth Southgate with performances of real maturity which showcased the strides both have made this season. Yet Mings, a player Southgate already knows well, was still the standout.

A month or so ago the 27-year-old was experiencing something of a sticky patch, during a run of matches when any minor mistake he made seemed to be punished.

Yet his value to the team has never been in question and as Villa have lost a little of their attacking flair and become more dependent on solid organisation, so Mings has once again stepped to the fore.

On Saturday, it was impossible to keep count of the times he arrived right on schedule to snuff out an attack, or was the first to get his head on a corner or free-kick. When not taking care of his own work, he was ensuring everyone else stuck to their task, bellowing out instructions and encouragement. Stand-in captain he might be, leader he has always been, armband or not.

One of those receiving regular praise was Ramsey and the effectiveness of a changed Villa midfield which will have added another layer of satisfaction for Smith.

Having made the decision to drop Ross Barkley, the temptation would have been to hand £14million January signing Morgan Sanson a first Premier League start.

Yet Ramsey, with plenty of running and more importantly discipline which belied his 19 years, proved the right choice. This was only his second Premier League start and a player who Villa considered sending on loan to the Championship to gain experience back in August should get plenty more in the top flight between now and the end of May.

While Ramsey impressed, the other player drafted into the team, Marvelous Nakamba, must now be giving his head coach a serious headache.

The Zimbabwe international has started only four Premier League matches this season – but Villa have kept clean sheets in all of them. Neither have they conceded during his four substitute appearances. Though Douglas Luiz, the man he replaced on Saturday, might have enjoyed a strong campaign in general, Nakamba could hardly be making a stronger case for an extended run in the team.

His performance on Saturday allowed Villa to execute a gameplan which effectively diffused their hosts. Granted, it wasn’t always pretty. But having gone toe-to-toe with Marcelo Bielsa’s explosive team back in October and been outgunned, Smith wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. It was probably more by chance Villa’s controlled approach also proved perfect for what is surely the Premier League’s worst pitch.

The shoddy surface contributed to the goal, Ollie Watkins slipping as he went to shoot and inadvertently playing a pinpoint cross into the path of El Ghazi, who two deft touches later had his sixth league goal of the season.

This was also a welcome return to form the winger, who must have feared for his own place in the line-up after a quiet outing against Leicester. Twice more in the opening 20 minutes he tested Leeds keeper Illan Meslier, while also shooting narrowly wide. But this was an evening when one goal always looked like being enough.

For Villa it earned a victory which was also important in the context of the season. Defeat would have seen them fall below Leeds in the table and potentially end the weekend in the bottom half.

Instead they are very much looking up, with destiny still in their own hands heading into a week which sees them face Sheffield United and Wolves.

There is a chance Grealish could be back for Wednesday’s trip to Bramall Lane. Regardless, Saturday’s performance showed enough to suggest Villa’s season will still be very much alive, whenever their skipper makes his return.