Following on from our disappointing showing against Sheffield United, inconsistent Aston Villa were looking to get back to winning ways as we welcomed Wolverhampton ‘Mind The Gap’ Wanderers to Villa Park for today’s Premier League clash.
Despite the frustrations felt this week, some perspective is required. Win today and we are four points off Everton in fifth place and we still have a game in hand on some of those above us.
The question ahead of kick off was, which Villa would turn up?
A slow and steady start exploded into life a couple of minutes in as Ollie Watkins cannoned a long ranger off the bar, so unlucky! Just shy of the 15 minute mark it was Ezri Konsa’s turn to have his head in his hands as he also rattled the woodwork.
It was a cracking first half, Wolves had their moments but I don’t remember them testing Emi in goal and we were largely all over them but with no final ball. How they went in at the break without a yellow card is probably more confusing than how we hadn’t scored yet.
The second half started brightly, but Wolves were more in it now and they had their first real chance on the break but it didn’t overly worry Emi.
Just ahead of the hour mark the visitors had a great chance, as the ball landed about a yard from the line after coming off the woodwork but the Wolves player pulled off the greatest clearance I’ve ever seen to save our blushes. I’ve no idea who it was, I was too busy giggling.
They then had another good chance, but in bizarro world, it was time for Ross Barkley to come on for Morgan Sanson and not Bertie Traore who was having a stinker. Although it did look like he was receiving treatment after the substitution, so maybe that was what led it – it certainly wasn’t the change I expected.
We were hanging on now though and those woodwork efforts in the first half came back to bite us as we were abysmal and dire. A pure WTF moment from Barkley saw Emi pull off the save of the century and for how much we should’ve been two clear in the first half, how we weren’t two down amazes me.
It even took seven odd minutes for Davis to be finally subbed on…from the almost sublime to the utterly ridiculous. Villa in a nutshell this year, but we are where we are and we still have to recognise our improvement – even if there is a hell of a long way to go.
It was painful stuff at times, but we still could’ve nicked it at the end as Konsa wasted a beauty.
Point was fair on balance.
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Are Villa In A Slump Or Are Expectations Now Wildly Unachievable
Villa Park
Premier League
6/03/2021 5:30 pm
Attendance: 0
Referee: Andy Madley
| Aston Villa | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martinez | Rui Patricio | ||||||
| Elmohamady | Dendoncker | ||||||
| Konsa | Coady | ||||||
| Mings | Saiss | ||||||
| Targett | Nelson Semedo | ||||||
| McGinn | Neves | ||||||
| Douglas Luiz | Joao Moutinho | ||||||
| Sanson | 61 | Castro Otto | |||||
| Traore | 83 | Neto | |||||
| Watkins | Da Silva | 78 | |||||
| Trezeguet | 78 | Traore | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Heaton | Hoever | ||||||
| Taylor | Ait-Nouri | ||||||
| Nakamba | Boly | ||||||
| Barkley | 61 | Fabio Silva | 78 | ||||
| Engels | Gibbs-White | ||||||
| Davis | 78 | Vitinha | |||||
| Ramsey | 83 | Ruddy | |||||
| Philogene-Bidace | Kilman | ||||||
| Hayden | |||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 9 | Goal attempts | 11 |
| 1 | On Target | 3 |
| 5 | Corners | 3 |
| 13 | Fouls | 13 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 49 | % | 51 |
Yes, I thought it was a fair result overall. No need to be disheartened about it and other recent results. Through promotion to the Prem and last gasp survival to winning our first four games this season, we are still a project in the making. We’ve seen signs of what we can become, the wins against Liverpool and Arsenal for example. If this season so far seems to be topsy turvy it’s because we have new players to blend in, along with disruptive injuries. The players we’ve got and those coming through will spur us on later this season and certainly the next. Our latest run is less to do with Jack missing games and more to do with the development of the squad. Expect improvement and consistency next season, then we will be ready for European adventures. Let’s also hope that a full house will be there to roar on the Pride of the Midlands.