Unai Emery explains why Morgan Rogers did not take penalty in Aston Villa shoot

Unai Emery explains why Morgan Rogers did not take penalty in Aston Villa shoot-out

Morgan Rogers did not take a penalty for Aston Villa against Brentford on Tuesday night

Aston Villa missed one of their chances to win a trophy this season at the first opportunity, losing on penalties to Brentford in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Harvey Elliott opened his account for the club at the end of the first half, but Aaron Hickey restored parity for the Bees just before the hour mark.

Jadon Sancho struck the post for Villa prior to Brentford’s equaliser, while Matty Cash also had a chance to win the game late on. Searching for his second assist of the night, John McGinn crossed to Cash at the back post, but he was denied by Brentford goalkeeper Hákon Valdimarsson.

Villa’s captain, McGinn, took the first penalty of the shoot-out, but his tame effort was saved by Valdimarsson.

Brentford then converted all three of their penalties before Matty Cash stepped up to take Villa’s fourth – but he too saw his attempt saved. Mikkel Damsgaard then ended the tie by beating Marco Bizot from 12 yards.

Emery was asked in his post-match press conference whether he had to console either McGinn or Cash after the shoot-out defeat.

“They are players who have confidence in taking penalties,” Emery explained. “We have our analysis of our players, how they have performed throughout their careers [with penalties]. I have nothing to tell them.”

Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendía converted Villa’s two successful spot-kicks, but fans were surprised that Morgan Rogers wasn’t among the early takers - and that he didn’t step up at all.

“With us, we don’t have any analysis of him taking a penalty,” Emery said of Rogers. “I don’t know if he is good or not [at taking them].”

Who are Villa's four best penalty takers? Tell us here

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