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A mere 60 days in the past when the Villa attacker stood on the Sunderland turf, looking confused as his coach admonished him for failing to anticipate a pass in behind. At that point, with the team endured a six-game winless run, the question was if his displays were an indicator or the source of Villa's more general malaise.

“When Rogers netted his second… Emery tore off his coat, threw his arms wide, and bellowed in delight.”

This weekend, in contrast, the manager's outburst was entirely decidedly more positive. When Rogers swept in his second strike to restore the lead for Villa, the boss ripped off his coat, threw his arms wide and shouted in triumph. Villa continued to a tenth straight victory and having failed to win their opening six fixtures, find themselves just three points behind pace-setters Arsenal.

Is This Team Legitimate Challengers?

This is a rather hard question to resolve. History, a general sense of Villa, argues against it. Moreover, they've rarely been wholly dominant during this run, even as the positive results have stacked up.

Per statistical analysis, twice all season has the side had an expected goals figure more than 0.5 greater than their opponents. For a side that have put together a ten-match winning streak, the Villans look weirdly vulnerable – yet currently the tight outcomes are falling their way.

The Rogers Recipe

Their recent policy looks like to exchange chances with rivals and wait for Rogers to save the day with some crisp finishes. This occurred away to Leeds, it transpired at West Ham, and it happened when facing the Red Devils.

The initial strike originated from an exquisite effort, arced right inside the goal frame from a wide position. His brace-completing goal acted as a slightly less clean iteration of goal number one capitalizing on a setup by his strike partner.

“Perhaps Rogers’ right foot is becoming like Arjen Robben’s left: just because you know he’s going to whip the ball into the top corner doesn’t mean you can stop him.”

Can It Last?

Logic says not. During the latest victory, the opponents managed more efforts and more direct attempts. The team has triumphed in eight consecutive games by the narrowest of margins. They’ve conceded in all but one of those matches.

A statistical correction may well be the biggest rival Villa must confront in the near future. Rogers, surely, cannot keep on thrashing the ball into the top corner forever.

Reasons for Optimism

Maybe there exists a different scenario where, rather than results trending towards performances, performances begin to trend towards results. Important figures might still return to peak condition.

• The main striker may begin to adding to his goal tally.
• The attacking talent may rediscover the performer he resembled during his peak.
• Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres will eventually regain fitness, bolstering a sometimes shaky defence.

Perhaps there is in that the possibility for a sustained push, however, it is improbable can persist in leaning entirely on a single individual.

Relishing the Unlikely

Yet, nobody expected this. Nobody thought Aston Villa would be third at Christmas. And certainly earlier this season, no one envisioned Rogers now would be at the forefront of a title charge while establishing himself as an essential Three Lions star.

The current run must be cherished precisely because it feels so unlikely. When the match-winner faced the North End after the match conducting the cheers, he seemed to be loving the experience. Which he fully merits. Such periods are uncommon in the sport and ought to be celebrated.