John Duran had another strong performance and scored in the win Aston Villa's 3-2 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last night. The Colombian's strike from around 30 meters was his sixth goal from the bench this season – the most of any player in the big five European leagues in 2024-2025, BTA reported.
Oli Watkins started and was replaced by Duran in the 46th minute, and when asked if a player like Duran wanted to be in the starting 11, Emery said: "Of course, sometimes he is very emotional and you have to we try to keep a balance with him".
Another Duran goal was disallowed for offside after intervention by the video refereeing system (VAR).
"He played fantastic today. Scored one goal, scored a second goal in which he was offside. It works and we try to make the team strong with a certain tactical approach. Its potential is huge. Tactically he is improving and he played a fantastic 45 minutes today," said the Aston Villa manager.
Duran said he is enjoying the battle for a starting spot.
"I'm happy to be here and I like the competition with Ollie Watkins. I hope that when my turn comes, I can step up and help the team," he added.
Duran, who turns 21 on Friday, was asked how he will celebrate his birthday.
"I definitely won't be celebrating my birthday outside because my goal is to score a goal on Saturday (in the Premier League game against Nottingham)", the footballer said.
Aston Villa are third in the Champions League standings in their first campaign in Europe's elite competition for 41 years.
With two games remaining in the knockout stages, they only need a win over Monaco or Celtic to book a place in the top eight and progress directly to the last 16, avoiding the play-offs.