Why Barkley was frustrated in Aston Villa win as Buendia lifts lid on 'long months' in injury rehab
Aston Villa are in the hat for the Carabao Cup round of 16 after beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 at Adams Park.
Unai Emery made 10 changes to the side which started in the win over Wolves last weekend and handed out two debuts to Joe Gauci and Kadan Young. On the night, Wycombe more than played their part in the cup tie, but Villa got the job done as Emi Buendia and Jhon Duran scored the goals before Richard Kone's consolation at the death.
Young's cross was turned in by Buendia in the 55th minute, whose header beat Franco Ravizzoli. Duran combined well with Ross Barkley before winning and converting a penalty 30 minutes after Buendia's opener.
READ | John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings as debutants impress in 2-1 Carabao Cup victory at Wycombe
READ | Emi Buendia opens up on 'special' Aston Villa return after Wycombe landmark
Here are the talking points from Villa's win...
BUENDIA'S NIGHT
It was Buendia's night. Over 18 months since scoring his last goal, Buendia must finally feel like he is back despite returning to training months ago and making his comeback to Premier League football earlier this month.
He captained Villa on Tuesday night and capped his performance by scoring a crucial goal to help Villa into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.
"It’s an amazing feeling to be back with the team and to play again from the start," Buendia told reporters after full-time. "Also to help the team with a goal and to go to another round, so I am very happy.
"It was many long months waiting for this moment. It was a really hard process, but every day I look back to when I had to stay inside working hard, looking at my teammates training and playing. I tried to prepare myself as good as possible. Today, I could help the team again.
"It was really hard, but I also felt proud [of my teammates] for the amazing year getting in the Champions League. I really enjoyed watching them but I wanted to be a part of it as well. I tried to stay close to them every day and they made me really happy.
"I have been working hard over the summer, I had a really tough summer. I fought hard to start as normal. I try to keep getting rhythm."
Buendia added: "We knew before coming here that for them it is a big challenge coming up against a Premier League team. We know they tried to show their quality and they fought really hard. The first half was really hard and the second half we made more chances.
"Today we showed that we have a deep squad and many good players. Today we rotated and we put in a few young lads. It was a really nice night.
"It’s important for the club and the team to have as many players as we have. We need to show our quality and we have many competitions and we need to go for everything."
YOUNG'S BLISTERING PACE
Up until Buendia scored his clever header, Villa were struggling to make much in the way of goalscoring opportunities. The breakthrough came after Young pulled wide, sized up his defender and took him on before producing a cross.
The 18-year-old is rapid and backs himself to beat his opponent every time. Dealing with pace will always be a difficulty for a full-back, especially when Young is clever with his movement.
He often runs at the opposition marker, before slowing them down to then burst past them with his electric acceleration. His end product was quality against Wycombe too as he made another couple of chances which might have been turned in on another day.
Young made the opening goal which was crucial to Villa going through, because without it, there's every chance they could have been the victim of a cup shock.
GAUCI'S IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
Gauci also made his first start for the club on Tuesday and the Australia international impressed. He deserved a clean sheet and would have been gutted not to have marked his first appearance without conceding.
He made a top save to deny Garath McCleary before Villa doubled their lead down the other end through Duran. Gauci reached across his goal to palm the ball to safety from McCleary's header from a corner. The Wycombe man must've thought he had scored when it left his head.
It was a very encouraging debut from Gauci, who despite still having plenty to improve on, proved that he has all the fundamental skills required to be Emi Martinez's number two.
He commands his area and collects crosses, which helps relieve pressure from his defence. In the first half, Gauci came to collect a throw-in, but misjudged the flight of the ball and had to give away a corner instead, but then made up for his error by catching the subsequent cross from the set-piece.
Gauci still has some way to go regarding his distribution, but he has improved in this area. He gave the ball away once when he tried to sweep possession out to Ian Maatsen which led to Ross Barkley giving him a few words. The midfielder was frustrated Gauci didn't check his bearings before playing the ball out of play, between Sil Swinkels and Maatsen.
Swinkels, who started his first match for the club, also had words from Barkley when he tried to find the Hollywood-ball rather than keeping possession. Then, early in the first half, the young centre-back carried the ball forward into the final third and opted to shoot rather than keeping the move going, which led to Barkley and Emery both suggesting a ball out wide was the better option.
EXPERIENCES FOR THE YOUTH
It was a largely impressive performance from Swinkels, alongside Lamare Bogarde, who has plenty of experience at League One level having played for Bristol Rovers across two separate loan spells.
The average age of Villa's starting XI was 22 years and six months, with Barkley by far the oldest member of the squad at 30. Buendia was the second-youngster player, three years younger than Barkley.
Seventeen-year-olds Aidan Borland, Ben Broggio and Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba all came on in the second half and held their own, while Travis Patterson (18) also had a run out in the final minutes. Jacob Ramsey, who came through the youth ranks at Villa like Broggio, had 30 minutes on the pitch as he continues to get minutes under his belt following a season of injury struggles last term.
Oliwier Zych, Triston Rowe and Kobei Moore were all also named among the substitues, while Thierry Katsukunya came into the squad after Diego Carlos pulled out injured after the warm-up.
FOURTH ROUND DRAW DETAILS
The Carabao Cup fourth round draw will take place on Wednesday, September 25 after Liverpool's game against West Ham. That third round tie kicks-off at 8pm.
Here's a list of Villa's possible opponents...
AFC Wimbledon or Newcastle
Arsenal or Bolton Wanderers
Aston Villa
Brentford
Brighton and Hove Albion
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Leicester City
Liverpool or West Ham
Manchester United
Preston North End
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Stoke City
Tottenham Hotspur
Ties for the Carabao Cup fourth round will be played on the week commencing Monday, October 28, giving clubs around a month to prepare. They will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday night that week.