Gabby Agbonlahor delivers brutal Harry Kane verdict amid praise for ‘outstanding’ Aston Villa stars

Aston Villa produced an incredible 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League as Gabby Agbonlahor reserved praise for several players.

Aston Villa collected their second clean sheet of the season in unlikely fashion, as they secured all three points against a world-class Bayern Munich side.

Unai Emery came into the match with a clear game plan; the Spaniard wanted to sit back in rigid shape and frustrate the hosts while hitting them on the counter.

Bayern dominated most of the possession and forced Emi Martinez into some world-class saves but it was Jhon Duran who produced the decisive moment, coming off the bench to lob Manuel Neuer 10 minutes from time.

The 20-year-old’s latest heroic display saw Bayern’s 41-match unbeaten record in the Champions League group stage come to an end, and Gabby Agbonlahor was left delighted by one aspect of the performance.

Gabby Agbonlahor on ‘poor’ Harry Kane and Aston Villa’s ‘outstanding’ defence
Following the defensive capitulation at the hands of Ipswich Town on Tuesday, few expected Villa to come away with a clean sheet against Bayern, especially with Harry Kane leading the line.

Kane was deemed fit to start after an injury scare in Saturday’s draw against Bayer Leverkusen but the Englishman was kept quiet for most of the night by the Villans defence.

The 31-year-old’s best chance of the game came in the final minute as his header from close range produced an incredible save from Martinez.

It was the performance of the Argentine and the defenders in front of him that impressed while Agbonlahor likened Kane’s ‘poor’ display to the sort he served up at Euro 2024.

“Do you know how Harry [Kane] played? He played like he had his boots on from the Euros where he was poor,” Agbonlahor said on the talkSPORT YouTube channel.

“It was the Euros in the summer performance. But you know what I liked about the Villa defence, yes Harry Kane wasn’t at his best, but you know what? Aston Villa’s defenders were on him.

“Pau Torres was on him. Diego Carlos was on him. Konsa was outstanding at right-back, aggressive. Digne was outstanding.”

Diego Carlos proved the doubters wrong vs Bayern Munich
Emery made the big call to start Diego Carlos against Bayern Munich despite his recent poor displays, and it paid off.

Carlos was a man-mountain alongside his centre-back partner Pau Torres, with the Villa duo clearing everything that came into the box, distributing the ball accurately and pocketing one of the world’s best forwards in Kane.

Recently, Villa have come under scrutiny for their leaky defence but Carlos, in particular, proved he could step up to the big occasion and put in an outstanding performance.

Emery’s back four helped him execute the game plan to perfection, as they dropped their line a bit deeper than usual and played on the counter-attack while reaping the rewards after Duran’s winner.