Aston Villa 4-0 Roma: Emiliano Buendia Orchestrates First-Half Mauling

Emiliano Buendia starred for Aston Villa as a phenomenal first-half display helped them beat Roma 4-0 in pre-season.

The midfielder scored a stunning free-kick after 15 minutes to open the scoring before Jacob Ramsey doubled Villa's lead two minutes later with a cool finish past Mile Svilar in the box.

Buendia then contributed with an assist for Villa's third, floating the ball towards the far post where Ollie Watkins was on hand to head home five minutes before the break.

Donyell Malen completed the scoring late on in the second period, cutting inside onto his right foot and firing in at the near post in the 85th minute.

Roma struggled throughout the match, registering just one shot on target through Neil El Aynaoui, and were outscored 1.12 to 0.3 on expected goals (xG) in what was a comfortable victory for Villa.

Unai Emery's side face Marseille in their next pre-season match on Saturday, while Roma play Everton in a friendly on the same day.

Data Debrief: Buendia leading the Villa attack

Buendia played just 12 games for Villa in the Premier League last season after returning from a long-term injury and spent the second half of the season on loan with Bayer Leverkusen.

However, Buendia showed against Roma how he can play an important role for Emery this season, providing competition for the likes of Morgan Rogers and Ramsey.

Along with his goal and assist, Buendia had the most touches in the box of any Villa player (three), while only Youri Tielemans (nine) completed more passes in the final third than his eight.