 On 14 July 2012, El Ahmadi made his debut in a 2–1 win against Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium, demonstrating a man of the match performance.On 25 August, he made his home debut and scored a spectacular strike in the 74th minute, in Aston Villa's 3–1 defeat to Everton.Having made a good start despite losing opening two Premier League games of the season, El Ahmadi was voted the club's player of the month of August.