Zimbabwe: Marvelous Nakamba's Aston Villa Survives Relegation

Zimbabwe international Marvelous Nakamba's Aston Villa will have another dance with the lucrative English Premier League next season after the club remarkably survived relegation on the last day of the season on Sunday.

Nakamba was introduced as a substitute with 14 minutes remaining of the encounter and put on a solid show as Aston Villa secured their Premier League survival following a 1-1 draw against West Ham at the London Stadium.

The Villains' skipper Jack Grealish opened the scoring in the 84 minute before the hosts equalised a minute later through Andriy Yarmolenko.

Villa entered the game in desperate need of at least a point to ensure their stay in the Premier League next season.

Simultaneously, they also required Watford to drop points away to Arsenal as the Hornets fell to a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates stadium.

Despite Bournemouth's 3-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park, their result did not affect Villa's survival status as the latter's draw on Sunday lifted them a point above the relegation zone.

Villa had been in the bottom three since February but a 1-0 win against Arsenal in midweek had lifted them above the drop zone and put their destiny in their own hands.

They ended up with 35 points having picked up eight in their last four games of the season.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth, Watford, and Norwich City have all been relegated to the EFL Championship next season.

Nakamba started the season solidly after his move from Belgian side Club Brugge but endured a tough finish to the season as he struggled to pin down a starting berth in the team after the Covid-19 induced break.

The Zimbabwean will be eager to re-establish himself as a regular in the Villa starting line-up next season after his secured his Premier League status.

This article was originally published by New Zimbabwe. Photo: PIxabay