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It was eight weeks in the past that Morgan Rogers stood on the Sunderland turf, appearing bewildered as the Villa manager admonished him for missing a through-ball. Back then, with the team failed to win in six, doubts remained whether his displays were a symptom or the reason for the side's wider issues.

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

This weekend, though, the manager's outburst proved to be much more joyous. When the England international swept in his brace-sealing goal to reinstate his side's advantage, Emery ripped off his coat, opened his arms and roared. Villa marched on to a tenth straight victory and despite not winning their initial half-dozen matches, find themselves a mere three points adrift of the leaders Arsenal.

Is This Team Genuine Challengers?

This is a rather hard query to answer. History, a general sense of Villa, argues against it. Additionally, their performances haven't been completely commanding this season, even as the positive results have accumulated.

Per Opta, in only two games have Villa posted an xG notably superior than their opponents. For a club that have strung together a ten-match winning streak, Villa look strangely fragile – yet currently the margins are swinging for them.

The Reliant Strategy

The prevailing tactic seems to be to exchange chances with an opponent before hoping their star man to rescue them with two crisp finishes. It happened at Leeds, it transpired at West Ham, and it happened against Manchester United.

His opener originated from a brilliant finish, arced right inside the post from the corner of the box. The follow-up goal proved to be a slightly less clean iteration of the opener as he pounced on a setup by his strike partner.

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

How Long Can This Continue?

Common sense dictates no. Against United, Manchester United had more efforts and more shots on target. Villa have won each of their last eight by the narrowest of margins. The defence has been breached in nearly all of those matches.

Regression to the mean may well be the biggest rival they will encounter in the near future. Their key man, almost certainly, cannot maintain drilling the ball into the top corner week in, week out.

Potential for Growth

Maybe there exists another reality where, rather than outcomes regressing to match displays, the team's displays improve to justify the wins. Vital cogs could still find their top level.

• Ollie Watkins could start finding the net regularly.
• Jadon Sancho may rediscover the force he was in Germany.
• Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres are set to return from injury, bolstering a sometimes shaky defensive unit.

This could contain the seeds for a sustained push, however, it is improbable can persist in leaning entirely on one man.

Relishing the Unlikely

However, nobody expected this. Few believed the team would occupy in the top three for the holidays. And certainly back in October, nobody thought the young forward by the end of the year would be at the forefront of a hunt for the title and appearing as a vital England player.

The current run is to be savoured for the very reason that it feels so unlikely. As Rogers positioned himself before the Villa faithful at the final whistle conducting the cheers, he appeared to be loving the experience. Which he fully merits. These spells are uncommon in the sport and ought to be celebrated.