Unai calls on his players to share and share alike!

VILLA earned their first win of the summer by beating St Louis City 2-1 at Energizer Park.

- By JOHN TOWNLEY

Morgan Rogers opened the scoring in the 14th minute before Ollie Watkins doubled the lead shortly before the hour.

Cedric Teuchert halved the hosts’ deficit in the 59th minute, but Villa held on for a comfortable victory in Missouri.

The squad travelled back to their base in Nashville straight after the game, ahead of their third and final Stateside friendly against Nashville SC at Geodis Park tomorrow. Here are the talking points.

Goals must be shared around

Watkins and Rogers will surely post more than 15 goal involvements each this season, which is just what Villa need from two of their top attackers.

But manager Unai Emery will need much more across the squad if Villa are to achieve their ambitions of returning to the Champions League - or even qualifying for Europe again.

Last season, only Youri Tielemans joined Watkins and Rogers in hitting double figures for contributions in the Premier League.

In 2023-24, five Villa players posted at least 10 goals and assists in the league, but the fourth-highest among the current squad was John McGinn with five.