Soccer

Super sub Jhon Duran adds goalscoring reflex to Aston Villa attacking arsenal

The Colombian boasts a fine record off the bench for Unai Emery’s in-form Villa.

Jhon Duran was Aston Villa’s super sub once again
Jhon Duran was Aston Villa’s super sub once again (David Davies/PA)

Super sub Jhon Duran struck again with Aston Villa’s Champions League winner against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the Colombian’s record off the bench.

Instant impact

Jhon Duran scores Aston Villa’s winner against Bayern Munich
Jhon Duran scores Aston Villa’s winner against Bayern Munich (Mike Egerton/PA)

Duran has five goals as a substitute in all competitions this season, two more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues, after his superb lob over Manuel Neuer.

His six Premier League appearances have all come off the bench, with goals against West Ham – the club he was strongly linked with in the summer – Leicester, Everton and Wolves.

Having played a total of just over 204 minutes including stoppage time he has the best scoring rate in the Premier League this season at 51.1 minutes per goal and it continues the trend of his time at Villa.

He came on in the 79th minute against Liverpool last season to score twice and salvage a 3-3 draw, having scored off the bench against Everton and Crystal Palace early in the season. His goal in last season’s 4-1 defeat by Manchester City is his only strike in three Premier League starts.

He also netted as a substitute against Ajax in last season’s Conference League, with goals as a starter against Hibernian in the qualifying round and Legia Warsaw in the group stage as well as in this season’s Carabao Cup against Wycombe.

Super sub

Jhon Duran has been prolific after stepping off the bench
Jhon Duran has been prolific after stepping off the bench

Manager Unai Emery told uefa.com after the Bayern game: “The most important aspect is (Duran’s) attitude: he’s available to play 90, 60, 30 minutes. He’s been focusing on each minute he’s playing.”

In Duran’s Villa career he has started 11 games and come off the bench in 47, with Ollie Watkins entrenched as the first-choice centre-forward.

Ten of the Colombian’s 14 goals have come as a substitute, in a total of 1,115 minutes for an average of a goal every 111.5 minutes. That comes down to 91.6 minutes if looking only at the last two seasons, excluding his 2022-23 campaign when he made 12 substitute appearances as a 19-year-old having arrived from Chicago Fire in the January.

When starting, he has scored four goals in 11 appearances totalling 801 minutes – a goal every 200.3 minutes.