Unai Emery must drag off rotten Moussa Diaby at half-time, he looks lost for Aston Villa v Zrinjski Mostar

In the Europa Conference League match against Zrinjski Mostar, Unai Emery’s experiment with his squad proved remarkably well as Aston Villa entered halftime with a score of 0-0.

On Thursday night, December 14, the Villans traveled to Bosnia-Herzegovina to play Zrinjski. The team needed to win in order to advance to the Europa Conference League round of 16.

Their opponents are battling for pride after being eliminated with one game remaining, while the Premier League team has already secured a position in the knockout stages.

Their opponents are battling for pride after being eliminated with one game remaining, while the Premier League team has already secured a position in the knockout stages.

And Aston Villa started the game brightly when Nicolo Zaniolo was picked out in the Zrinjski 18-yard-box by Alex Moreno but skied his shot in what was a good early chance for the away side inside two minutes.

Zaniolo laid on a sublime cross for Duran inside the penalty area but his tame effort was easily saved by the away goalkeeper.

Emery made as many as eight changes for the game but the Villans were expected to pick up another win on their European adventure regardless.

And Aston Villa started the game brightly when Nicolo Zaniolo was picked out in the Zrinjski 18-yard-box by Alex Moreno but skied his shot in what was a good early chance for the away side inside two minutes.

Zaniolo laid on a sublime cross for Duran inside the penalty area but his tame effort was easily saved by the away goalkeeper.

However, one player in particular who had proven a start for the Villans earlier in the season but now looks as every bit an expensive waste is summer signing Moussa Diaby.

The former Bayer Leverkusen man hasn’t started for Aston Villa since the 2-1 win over Legia Warsaw two weeks ago (30 November) and hadn’t started in the Premier League since the 2-1 win over Tottenham (26 November) – a game where he completely looked lost.

It was the same story in the first half against Zrinjski on Thursday evening, as he registered 0% key passes for Villa, and no shot on target. Whilst completing 100% of his dribbles [SofaScore], it was in no way influential or dangerous for the Zrinjski defence which looked completely comfortable.

This time, just before the half, Moreno discovered the Frenchman inside the box, but his attempt was hilariously distorted, reflecting just his difficulties in Bosnia in the first half.

They have to haul him away

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