‘I’ve just never really shown it’: In-form Aston Villa defender backs himself after major Manchester City impact

Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash was understandably beaming after scoring the only goal of the game against Manchester City on Sunday.

Villa picked up their fourth successive Premier League win by beating the Cityzens at Villa Park. Cash collected the ball from a slightly mis-placed corner routine to fire in the winner in the first half and take Villa into a much more respectable position in the table.

It was Cash’s second major impact in as many matches. His incredible pass for Lucas Digne against Tottenham Hotspur a week earlier helped set up the winning goal for Emi Buendía as Villa claimed their first away league win of the season.

Cash started the season in good form and has kept increasing his levels as the players around him have gradually found their feet. He has two Premier League goals to his name this term as well as a couple for Poland, and has now signed a new contract that runs until the summer of 2029 with an option for a further year.

“I’m playing with a lot of confidence,” Cash told the official club website.

‘I’ve always had a good shot’

“To be honest, I’ve always had a good shot, I’ve just never really shown it in games. This season it seems to be going my way and every time I get the ball on the edge of the box, I’ve got confidence and feel like I’m going to hit the target a lot of the time.”

Cash admitted after the match that the corner kick routine that led to his beautiful finish was not planned to create a shooting opportunity for him, but to pick out teammate Morgan Rogers.

He produced a tremendous left-footed finish but it was the defensive work of Cash and his colleagues that really caught the eye at Villa Park.

“When you’re playing against a quality side, they’re obviously going to dominate the ball a lot and have good chances,” said the Polish international.

Cash signs a new Villa deal

“But we did a lot of work Saturday on defending the box, we know they’ve got top quality wingers and forwards. It was about being resilient and trying to defend well, get them on the counter-attack and I thought, overall, we were brilliant.”

A new contract for Cash has been in the works for some time and he’s signed it at the peak of his reputation at the club. He has been heavily criticised – too heavily, in my opinion – but has shut out the noise this season to help lead Villa out of a poor start.

He joined the club from Nottingham Forest in 2020 and has been a fixture in the side ever since, evolving as a Premier League player over the course of five years in which his club, in truth, has had to do the same.

Cash has been a trusted player for manager Unai Emery throughout his time at the club and has started to gain some long overdue recognition for the positive aspects of his game.

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