Nine years ago today, the world in which Aston Villa lived was different.
It was monochrome and miserable. The club was being excavated, directionless on the pitch, and in flux in the boardroom. On April 9, 2016, Villa were relegated from the Premier League.
The cold hard facts were atrocious. A 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford meant a ninth straight loss, with more managers (four) than total wins (three) and still four matches to play.
Villa were a shell of what they were and, most pitifully, of what they could be. Their history was rich — the fifth most decorated side in English football at the time — and for nearly three decades, an integral part of the Premier League’s furniture.
Villa fans protest at Old Trafford (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
As it would happen, a fresh-faced Marcus Rashford scored the only goal on that harrowing afternoon. Succumbing to defeat was predictable — pessimism had reigned throughout the season.
A considerable number of the 1,500 away supporters stayed stoically to protest at full-time, with banners unfurled and created through any means, be it graffitied bedsheets, Villa-logo placards or coloured prints. It was a vignette of equal sorrow and anger, enraged by American billionaire Randy Lerner’s ownership.
For Villa to go from there to the stage they now play on is startling.
Cynicism has turned into unerring optimism. The dreary scenes at Old Trafford and the increasingly empty seats at Villa Park — where supporters voted with their feet — have now transformed into a colourful, vibrant picture.
A 15-minute frenzy in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain saw Villa touch levels they had not reached in a generation. While they won 3-2 on the night but ultimately fell to a 4-5 defeat on aggregate, they had threatened the most unlikely of comebacks.
It felt fitting that John McGinn’s goal, the longest-serving player and the one figure who best characterises Villa’s dramatic progress, lit the fuse.
The noise bellowing from Villa Park was ear-splitting. PSG were caught in a daze and on the ropes. Rashford, the Manchester United loanee and the player who sealed Villa’s fate nine years ago, appeared most captivated by the sudden shift in feeling, roused by a crowd to, briefly, recapture who he once was.
PSG refused to take a backwards step so Villa went toe-to-toe. Unai Emery implored Rashford to start centrally and make runs into the left channel and the space Achraf Hakimi continued to leave vacant.
Rashford looked buoyed, quicker and more purposeful in his actions. Three minutes after McGinn’s goal, he chased onto Amadou Onana’s hook down the line, isolating Willian Pacho in the position he used to love at his peak and in much simpler times.
Cutting inside, jinking past Pacho before then shifting the ball away from Marquinhos, he wound up his shot, with a familiar high back-lift and honed in on the far corner.
There was no stuttering nor hesitation — Villa were confident and in flow and so was he. Gianluigi Donnarumma dived to excellently turn the ball over the crossbar and, almost in the realisation of how big a save it could be, let out a roar.
Rashford raced to the far corner, intent on taking the corner quickly and refused to let such unforeseen momentum subside.
This was a player who, like Villa in recent years, was suddenly reinvigorated, having been partly at fault for PSG’s first goal. His loose touch allowed Villa to be broken on and, in turn, magnify Emery’s decision to start him ahead of Ollie Watkins for a third successive match.
Rashford’s time at Villa has been in fits and spurts; flashes of excellence but hardly spectacular. Truthfully, he has lacked in his all-round game and the goodwill which extends from Villa supporters to the coaching staff has afforded him patience, even if Watkins’ increasingly frustrated shadow looms.
Declarations that Rashford is back to his best are greatly premature, yet he continues to be talked about and assessed — among supporters, media and coaches — in the hope he can, over a sustained period, rediscover what he promised in Manchester.
Rashford’s skill in creating Ezri Konsa’s goal was, for Emery, affirmation of his belief in the 27-year-old.
Rashford’s resulting corner from Donnarumma’s save was cleared, but the ball found its way to him again.
He stepped inside a rushing Fabian Ruiz who could not slow down soon enough and drove into the box with full throttle, sweeping the ball past Vitinha to reach the byline and cut a cross back for Konsa to score.
Belief surged through Villa and Rashford’s veins. For so long, he had carried the look of a wearied figure, inhibited and stifled of confidence. For 15 minutes, he had been swept up by the sheer exuberance of a second half that threatened a comeback.
Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Marco Asensio all had further opportunities to level the tie before PSG regathered themselves to some extent. Rashford’s swashbuckling running was now less frequent, though Villa’s attacking threat noticeably lessened when he was substituted for Watkins in the 76th minute.
Emery collapsed to the floor twice more as Villa went close. This was a team and a stadium beyond recognition compared to nine years earlier. Emery walked down the tunnel at full-time, his stare fixed on the floor and visibly devastated. He had pushed his players to the maximum, convincing they could do what seemed to be unthinkable at the break.
Once emotions subsided, Villa’s manager was able to see the bigger picture.
“He (Rashford) played a fantastic match,” he told Amazon. “He is happy. And if he is happy, we are happy.”
Undoubtedly, Rashford will continue to be a key talking point for as long as he is at Villa. His performance against PSG proved a microcosm for this peculiar stage of his career. He often drifts through large parts of games but, like the quarter-of-an-hour where Villa ripped apart arguably Europe’s best team, seemingly can flick a switch and produce sensational moments rather easily. It is what makes judging his loan at Villa so tricky and, perhaps frustrating.
Rashford has now moved to the Midlands. In an environment which requires ultra professionalism and acceptance that Emery and his coaching staff, footballing obsessives, will monitor every part of a player’s life. Emery has lately warned his squad against travelling long distances on days off, preferring they rest at home and channel all their energy on football.
Emery’s tone shifted from disappointment to pride at full-time. He repeated how satisfied he was with players “executing the gameplan” but admitted that if Villa want to raise their levels further, constant improvement is needed.
It is the same message being shared with Rashford. For both himself and his team-mates, the challenge now is to recapture that 15-minute passage which almost broke PSG on a regular basis.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
