Aston Villa 2-0 Swansea
Everything comes to an end and Michael Laudrup's fantastic unbeaten streak finally came to an end as Aston Villa managed to secure their first win of the season much to the detriment of Swansea.
At the start of the day Aston Villa looked like a team who were really struggling in the Premier League and with pressure building on both the manager, Paul Lambert and the players they needed a good performance. That's exactly what they got from the off.
The deadlock was broken early in the game as Michael Lowton opened the scoring and put Villa 1-0 around the quarter of an hour mark thanks to a genuinely spectacular strike that evaded Michael Vorm thanks to a minor deflection. After taking the lead Villa were unwilling to let Swansea back into the game and pressed hard every time the visitors had the ball neutralising almost all the threats by the Swansea attack.
Whilst were very tough at the back, Swansea did manage to come close forcing Brad Guzan to make an excellent double save whilst it was still 1-0. Despite leading for much of the game there was a slight nervousness to Villa that wasn't done away with until they sealed the points in the 88th minute thanks to Belgian international Christian Benteke. Despite not coming on until late into the game Benteke looked sensational and worth every penny of the £7million Villa paid for him.
Villa fans may have been feeling despair just a few days ago though with their first win on the board and with Benteke looking a little bit special they will now be feeling very relieved. Though they may have their first win, they still look like a club who could struggle to stay up, especially if Benteke takes a knock as he looks like he could well be the key to the teams success.
Swansea's great start may have come to a premature end but I doubt many will worry too much at this stage. The Swans are still one of the most attractive to watch teams in the Premier League and a blip here and there will not see their season turning to a horror. This wasn't them are their best but they certainly are not a team to worry about.
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up Newcastle v Aston Villa
Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa
Going into this match it was clear that pressure was starting to build on Aston Villa and their new manager Paul Lambert. They had played two games losing both of them (1-0 to West Ham and 3-1 to Everton) and it seemed likely that a visit to St James' Park wasn't going to help them get off the bottom of the league table.
Surprisingly Villa made a great start to the game and didn't come out like a team who were low on confidence instead they bossed early sections of the match. It was whilst bossing the game that Villa took the lead via a Ciaran Clark header as he met Barry Bannan's excellent cross to break the deadlock. Villa had come very close just minutes earlier with Tim Krul forced to make a great save from Darren Bent and going into the half Villa certainly deserved their lead.
As we know from last season Newcastle are not an easy team to beat, especially at home (they lost just 3 of 19 matches there last year) and they showed their fighting spirit in the second half. With the likes of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse the home side really are a tough team to defend against and they each came close before the mercurial Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa equalised just quarter of an hour into the second half. Ben Arfa, a genuinely world class player showed why many rate him so highly as he made space outside the Villa penalty area and struck a thunderbolt past Brad Guzan in the Villa goal.
The match ended with a spate of yellow cards for Villa as Newcastle tried to secure 3 points and put the visitors under pressure with Eric Lichaj, Brad Guzan and Brett Holman all being shown yellows however the visitors managed to hold on for a point.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will have expected 3 points here against a struggling Villa however he will feel really relieved at actually getting a point, despite the late pressure by his team. Hatem Ban Arfa's goal again showed his class and the reason why so many in football rate the Frenchman so highly however Pardew may be concerned that his forwards haven't been managing to score so far with only 1 goal between Cisse and Ba in their first 3 Premier League games of the season.
Villa may have felt that their opening half display should have bagged them their first win of the season however they should be happy at not only picking up their first point of the season but doing it at a fortress like St James' Park. Though Paul Lambert still needs to be really concerned even though his team are finally off the mark. His attacking force looks really poor with Darren Bent yet to score this season they will struggle for goals until Bent finds his feet. At the back Villa were tough today but again they don't look solid and they will really struggle throughout the season.
Going into this match it was clear that pressure was starting to build on Aston Villa and their new manager Paul Lambert. They had played two games losing both of them (1-0 to West Ham and 3-1 to Everton) and it seemed likely that a visit to St James' Park wasn't going to help them get off the bottom of the league table.
Surprisingly Villa made a great start to the game and didn't come out like a team who were low on confidence instead they bossed early sections of the match. It was whilst bossing the game that Villa took the lead via a Ciaran Clark header as he met Barry Bannan's excellent cross to break the deadlock. Villa had come very close just minutes earlier with Tim Krul forced to make a great save from Darren Bent and going into the half Villa certainly deserved their lead.
As we know from last season Newcastle are not an easy team to beat, especially at home (they lost just 3 of 19 matches there last year) and they showed their fighting spirit in the second half. With the likes of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse the home side really are a tough team to defend against and they each came close before the mercurial Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa equalised just quarter of an hour into the second half. Ben Arfa, a genuinely world class player showed why many rate him so highly as he made space outside the Villa penalty area and struck a thunderbolt past Brad Guzan in the Villa goal.
The match ended with a spate of yellow cards for Villa as Newcastle tried to secure 3 points and put the visitors under pressure with Eric Lichaj, Brad Guzan and Brett Holman all being shown yellows however the visitors managed to hold on for a point.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will have expected 3 points here against a struggling Villa however he will feel really relieved at actually getting a point, despite the late pressure by his team. Hatem Ban Arfa's goal again showed his class and the reason why so many in football rate the Frenchman so highly however Pardew may be concerned that his forwards haven't been managing to score so far with only 1 goal between Cisse and Ba in their first 3 Premier League games of the season.
Villa may have felt that their opening half display should have bagged them their first win of the season however they should be happy at not only picking up their first point of the season but doing it at a fortress like St James' Park. Though Paul Lambert still needs to be really concerned even though his team are finally off the mark. His attacking force looks really poor with Darren Bent yet to score this season they will struggle for goals until Bent finds his feet. At the back Villa were tough today but again they don't look solid and they will really struggle throughout the season.
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Aston Villa v Everton
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
It maybe early in the season with just 2 games gone but alarm bells need to be ringing at Villa Park with their team really struggling. Their opening day defeat to West Ham made Villa look toothless, they didn't look any better here as Everton put them to the sword and showed that they didn't just fluke their victory over Manchester United.
The Villa defense looked awful last weekend and they didn't look much better here as Everton took them to the cleaners in the opening half. It took less than 3 minutes for Everton to open the scoring for the day as Steven Pienaar netted a real beauty from outside the penalty area. Whilst the shot it's self was near unstoppable Pienaar was allowed too much space and took full advantage. Everton doubled their lead a little thanks to a major mistake by Shay Given who let Marouane Fellaini's header go right through him. Whilst Given didn't stand a chance for the first goal, he should have stopped the second. Everton added a 3rd before half time thanks to Nikica Jelavic who escaped from his man to put in a Leighton Baines cut back and seal the points.
Things went from bad to worse for Villa when Ciaran Clark got sent off in the second half for a foul on Jelavic who appeared to be through on goal. With 10 men Villa did manage to show something and scored their first goal of the season as new signing Karim El Ahmadi opened his account, however in all honesty Tim Howard should have saved the shot.
Villa fans will be sick to death with their managerial merry-go-round that has plagued them in recent years, sadly however Paul Lambert isn't looking like the man for the job. Lambert has brought in a host of new signings and sadly it seems none of them have really settled yet, in fact it seems like no one is settled. Defensively Villa look awful and up front they simply have no penetration, in fact they only managed a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes. It may be early but Lambert may well be leading the sack race.
Before the season kicked off I really doubted Everton, I thought the loss of Tim Cahill would really make the team struggle. Instead however it seems to have really lit a fire under Marouane Fellaini who was once again exceptional as Everton dominated for the second game in a row. In attack Everton look genuinely scary, Fellaini, Jelavic and Pienaar all look like they will be bagging goals for fun this year and at the back Leighton Baines and Phil Neville look like they are having roaming up and down the flanks. This Everton team are already showing signs of a team going places. Despite their almost crippling financial position the team look brilliant and David Moyes needs to be seriously applauded for getting the usually starting Everton off to a fantastic start this season.
It maybe early in the season with just 2 games gone but alarm bells need to be ringing at Villa Park with their team really struggling. Their opening day defeat to West Ham made Villa look toothless, they didn't look any better here as Everton put them to the sword and showed that they didn't just fluke their victory over Manchester United.
The Villa defense looked awful last weekend and they didn't look much better here as Everton took them to the cleaners in the opening half. It took less than 3 minutes for Everton to open the scoring for the day as Steven Pienaar netted a real beauty from outside the penalty area. Whilst the shot it's self was near unstoppable Pienaar was allowed too much space and took full advantage. Everton doubled their lead a little thanks to a major mistake by Shay Given who let Marouane Fellaini's header go right through him. Whilst Given didn't stand a chance for the first goal, he should have stopped the second. Everton added a 3rd before half time thanks to Nikica Jelavic who escaped from his man to put in a Leighton Baines cut back and seal the points.
Things went from bad to worse for Villa when Ciaran Clark got sent off in the second half for a foul on Jelavic who appeared to be through on goal. With 10 men Villa did manage to show something and scored their first goal of the season as new signing Karim El Ahmadi opened his account, however in all honesty Tim Howard should have saved the shot.
Villa fans will be sick to death with their managerial merry-go-round that has plagued them in recent years, sadly however Paul Lambert isn't looking like the man for the job. Lambert has brought in a host of new signings and sadly it seems none of them have really settled yet, in fact it seems like no one is settled. Defensively Villa look awful and up front they simply have no penetration, in fact they only managed a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes. It may be early but Lambert may well be leading the sack race.
Before the season kicked off I really doubted Everton, I thought the loss of Tim Cahill would really make the team struggle. Instead however it seems to have really lit a fire under Marouane Fellaini who was once again exceptional as Everton dominated for the second game in a row. In attack Everton look genuinely scary, Fellaini, Jelavic and Pienaar all look like they will be bagging goals for fun this year and at the back Leighton Baines and Phil Neville look like they are having roaming up and down the flanks. This Everton team are already showing signs of a team going places. Despite their almost crippling financial position the team look brilliant and David Moyes needs to be seriously applauded for getting the usually starting Everton off to a fantastic start this season.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up West Ham v Aston Villa
West Ham 1-0 Aston Villa
Sam Allardyce's West Ham may have been the latest team to earn their Premier League berth having come up through the Play Off Final (where they defeated Cardiff City) though, in the eyes of many they are the promoted team with the best Premier League pedigree having a number of players with Premier League experience as well as "Big Sam" at the helm. In Villa they faced a team that have really failed to gain any continuity in recent seasons with managers being chopped and changed on a regular basis, this was the first game in charge for new manager Paul Lambert, who was brought in to replace Alex McLeish.
The first half was a tedious affair with little to talk about until West Ham's captain Kevin Nolan put the Hammers ahead after a controversial move that saw the linesman flag for offside and then getting over-ruled by the referee. Whilst the referee was right, as the ball had flicked off a Villa defender it didn't make it any easier to swallow for the Villa players.
The goal allowed West Ham to shake the shackles and in the second half they looked the much better team and had several notable chances, though they failed to convert any of them. Thankfully for Hammers fans Villa failed to make them pay for their missed chances and aside from a long range shot by new signing Ron Vlaar Villa posed no threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen goal as West Ham kept a clean sheet.
Sam Allardyce will be proud of his players for picking up the win, and whilst this may not have been the football that West Ham fans want to see they will agree the 3 points are what they needed much than an eye catching performance. With a good core of players, including Nolan, Vaz Te, Noble, Collins and Jaaskelainen it'll be a surprise to me if West Ham do flop. Whilst Sam hasn't brought in many new players (though he did re-sign former player Collins) he hasn't the sort of squad that should have enough experience to keep them up.
Whilst I feel West Ham are good enough to stay up I do have serious worries about Villa who on this performance certainly need to sign at least 1 more player as they simply didn't create enough chances. If you don't create chances you will struggle to score. Whilst they have brought in a number of solid players most of them seem to have been defensive players other than Brett Holmann who didn't look 100% today. The lack of continuity at Villa has to be a worry for fans who will be hoping that Lambert can turn the teams fortunes around after last years relegation battle.
Sam Allardyce's West Ham may have been the latest team to earn their Premier League berth having come up through the Play Off Final (where they defeated Cardiff City) though, in the eyes of many they are the promoted team with the best Premier League pedigree having a number of players with Premier League experience as well as "Big Sam" at the helm. In Villa they faced a team that have really failed to gain any continuity in recent seasons with managers being chopped and changed on a regular basis, this was the first game in charge for new manager Paul Lambert, who was brought in to replace Alex McLeish.
The first half was a tedious affair with little to talk about until West Ham's captain Kevin Nolan put the Hammers ahead after a controversial move that saw the linesman flag for offside and then getting over-ruled by the referee. Whilst the referee was right, as the ball had flicked off a Villa defender it didn't make it any easier to swallow for the Villa players.
The goal allowed West Ham to shake the shackles and in the second half they looked the much better team and had several notable chances, though they failed to convert any of them. Thankfully for Hammers fans Villa failed to make them pay for their missed chances and aside from a long range shot by new signing Ron Vlaar Villa posed no threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen goal as West Ham kept a clean sheet.
Sam Allardyce will be proud of his players for picking up the win, and whilst this may not have been the football that West Ham fans want to see they will agree the 3 points are what they needed much than an eye catching performance. With a good core of players, including Nolan, Vaz Te, Noble, Collins and Jaaskelainen it'll be a surprise to me if West Ham do flop. Whilst Sam hasn't brought in many new players (though he did re-sign former player Collins) he hasn't the sort of squad that should have enough experience to keep them up.
Whilst I feel West Ham are good enough to stay up I do have serious worries about Villa who on this performance certainly need to sign at least 1 more player as they simply didn't create enough chances. If you don't create chances you will struggle to score. Whilst they have brought in a number of solid players most of them seem to have been defensive players other than Brett Holmann who didn't look 100% today. The lack of continuity at Villa has to be a worry for fans who will be hoping that Lambert can turn the teams fortunes around after last years relegation battle.
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