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Just two months prior that the young forward stood on the Sunderland turf, looking confused while Unai Emery berated him over not reading a penetrating pass. Back then, with the team failed to win in six, the question was whether his performances were a sign or the reason of the team's more general malaise.

“As Rogers swept in his second… Emery ripped off his thick padded coat, spread his arms and roared.”

This weekend, in contrast, the touchline reaction was entirely far more favourable. After the England international drilled in his second strike to reclaim the lead for Villa, the Spanish tactician tore off his coat, threw his arms wide and roared. The team marched on to ten wins in a row , despite not winning any of their first six fixtures, find themselves only three points behind the leaders Arsenal.

Is This Team Legitimate Title Contenders?

This is a rather hard query to address. History, a general sense of this institution, argues against it. Moreover, their performances haven't been entirely convincing in many games, even as the positive results have piled up.

As per Opta, twice all season has the team registered an expected goals figure notably superior than the other team. For a side who have put together 10 in a row, they seem strangely fragile – but at the moment the margins are going in their favour.

The Winning Formula

Their recent policy seems to be to engage in a shootout with rivals and wait for their talisman to rescue them with a couple of precise efforts. This occurred at Leeds, it occurred at West Ham, and once more against United.

His opener came from a brilliant finish, bent right inside the goal frame from the corner of the box. The follow-up goal proved to be a somewhat messier replica of goal number one capitalizing on a pass from Watkins.

“Rogers’ right foot is now akin to Robben’s legendary left: forewarned does not mean forearmed, and stopping him is another matter entirely.”

Is It Sustainable?

Reason suggests otherwise. During the latest victory, the opposition registered more efforts and more efforts on goal. The team has secured their last eight victories by the narrowest of margins. They have allowed goals in all but one of those games.

Regression to the mean could be the biggest rival Villa have to face over the coming weeks. Their key man, almost certainly, cannot keep on thrashing the ball into the net's top corner forever.

Reasons for Optimism

Maybe there exists a different scenario where, rather than results trending towards performances, the level of play rises to match the results. Key players could still find their top level.

• The centre-forward might resume adding to his goal tally.
• The winger could transform into the player he showed during his peak.
• Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres will eventually come back from the treatment room, bolstering a periodically leaky defence.

Maybe within that lies the potential of a genuine bid, but they surely can persist in leaning entirely on Morgan Rogers.

Relishing the Unlikely

But then, nobody expected this. Few believed the team would occupy in a Champions League place in December. And certainly back in October, few could imagine the young forward by the end of the year would be leading a championship pursuit while looking like an essential England player.

The current run should be enjoyed exactly since it feels so unlikely. As the match-winner positioned himself before the home supporters when the game ended orchestrating the applause, it was clear to be loving the experience. As he deserves to. These runs of form are rare in football and ought to be celebrated.