In the first half of the game I tweeted that the one word to sum up the first half was Lamela.
Lamela was instrumental on the right hand side and ripped Paye to shreds. He was effortlessly gliding down the wing and seemed to find it easy to skip past the challenges. Of course there was a blatant penalty that was missed by the referee, but it was due to the fact that Lamela was determined to stay up in hope of a sight on goal.
The second half saw Lamela moved out onto the left, which for me was a mistake. On the left the hole was closed down faster and Lamela did not look as confident in the position. It was not long before AVB saw this and moved the winger back into his favored position.
Again he was right back into Paye.
It was a pleasure to see the youngster grow in confidence as he showcased step over after step over.
He fully deserved his goal to cap his performance off!
AVB was the first to sing the wingers praises and said;
"We were waiting for a good performance from him and I think we got it today.
"We have been patient with him and he has delivered with a game in which he had no fear, took people on and created a lot. We saw some signs for what he can do for us and hopefully now he can progress."
The one thing that was lacking was the decision making, whether to pass off or shoot. But you can forgive the youngster as it was obvious he was looking for that first goal. He played like a man possessed. You could tell that he had made his mind up that last night was the night to get his first goal.
Many fans have been very impatient expecting the youngster to fit in and play straight away. However AVB has played the right hand again it seems (as he did with Lloris). It was always going to be difficult for the Argentinian though, learning a new language, settling into a new country and that’s whilst he is trying to do the same at his new club. No one could have foreseen how well Townsend was going to come out of the blocks.
Now Lamela has had a chance to score his confidence will be high and in time for an encounter with the Toon at the weekend.
6 games, 3 assists (that penalty was all Lamela) and 1 goal. So a good return so far 0.66 ratio of scoring or assisting in Europe, I am sure he will now bring this into the league, but again fans be patient with him!
To end on a big high Lamela scored a huge 102 points in the Squawka system last night! 1 goal in 4 attempts, an 87% pass rate and a 69% tackle succession.
COYS!!!
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