West Bromwich Albion of England defender, Semi Ajayi had mixed-fortunes on a historic day in the English Premier League, as he captained The Baggies for the better part of the second half in a heavy home defeat by Aston Villa, megasportsarena.com reports.
The former Rotherham United versatile player, who can line out as right-back, holding midfielder or central defender, did well and was the pick of WBA’s players in the second half, as he captained them for 53 minutes.
Ajayi, though, could not save his side from suffering a 3-0 loss visiting Villa in a West Midlands derby at The Hawthorns on Sunday night, with his side level terms for four minutes, until an excellent cross from Bertrand Traore was turned in by Anwar El-Ghazi for the opener.
Jake Livermore’s red card in the 37th minute made things more difficult for West Brom, the Baggies skipper received his marching orders after a malicious tackle on Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish and handed the armband to the Nigeria international before leaving the pitch.
A report by allnigeriasoccer.com added: “Ajayi previously captained Arsenal’s U23 team and skippered Rotherham United in a League Cup clash vs Wigan Athletic during the 2018-2019 season.
“Constant Aston Villa pressure was eventually rewarded six minutes from time when Traore scored their insurance goal before El-Ghazi converted a spot kick awarded after Grealish was clipped just inside the box by Ajayi.
“After fourteen games in the division, West Brom are currently sitting 19th with seven points before they visit the champions Liverpool next Sunday.”
