The Sunday News
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN midfielder Marvelous Nakamba played the full 90 minutes for Aston Villa when they defeated Arsenal 1-0 in an English Premier League fixture played at Villa Park yesterday. Appearing only for the third time in the starting lineup for Villa, Nakamba played his seventh EPL game for the Clarets and Blue. He was one of the three Villa players booked together with skipper Jack Grealish and Ezri Konsa.
Nakamba started ahead of Brazilian David Luiz who has been preferred at defensive link for the better part of this season. The Zimbabwean was part of a great defensive effort which saw Villa defend their one goal advantage for over 80 minutes to secure the three points and keep a clean sheet.
It was Ollie Watkins, the man who took Nakamba’s number 11 jersey when he joined Villa from Brentford who scored the only goal of the match in the second minute. Villa held on to record a season’s double over Arsenal for the first time in 38 years. They hammered the Gunners 3-0 at the Emirates in November last year.
