Aston Villa fans laud unlikely hero Orjan Nyland after penalty heroics

By Jay Williams

Orjan Nyland made a late penalty save to ensure Aston Villa beat Swansea City on Boxing Day.

Aston Villa led the game 1-0 through a Conor Hourihane goal but the hosts were handed a late penalty when Anwar El Ghazi tripped Nathan Dyer in the box.

Wilfried Bony stepped up to salvage a point for Swansea but Nyland produced a superb stop to keep his clean sheet.

The late spot kick save meant that Aston Villa bounced back from last weekend’s disappointing loss against Leeds United and moved to within three points of the play-offs.

Nyland has come in for a lot of criticism this season with a string of errors costing Aston Villa in some matches.

(Photo by Ian Cook – CameraSport via Getty Images)

But the Norway international endeared himself to fans by capping a fine display with an impressive penalty save.

Rather than costing points, Nyland proved that he can also be a match winner.

With Lovre Kalinic – Croatia’s number one goalkeeper – arriving on January 1st, Nyland faces a battle to keep his spot in the side.

But the 28-year-old’s performance would have boosted his chances of retaining the starting spot.

Here are some things that Aston Villa fans said about Nyland’s display.

https://twitter.com/AV_The_Informer/status/1077988142513381376

https://twitter.com/AvfcUTV1/status/1077989000768618496