Following quickly on the heels of our return to the 2019/20 Premier League campaign with a point against high flying Sheffield United, Aston Villa were back in action on Sunday as we faced off against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side.
We simply had to build on the small positives we could take from Wednesday’s tie and do all we could to take the three points on offer here as survival was still in our hands ahead of the game, but we were welcoming Tammy Abraham back to Villa Park and few were confident on that front.
Chelsea were certainly out of the blocks quicker and absolutely dominated, but with 10 men behind the ball and a self isolating Keinan Davis doing his best up front, we held firm in defence and despite numerous chances, Orjan Nyland only had to pull off one decent save and he made their second effort look harder than it was. Then bizarrely we took the lead thoroughly against the run of play.
1-0 at half time and few knew what was happening.
Sadly by the end of the second half, everyone was completely aware as we couldn’t ride our luck any longer and having lost some semblance of a presence at the top of the pitch as Samatta came on for Davis, Chelsea were back on level terms and two minutes later they had the advantage.
It was woeful, but we could’ve nicked a point with the chances we had, but predictably, it wasn’t to be.
Two opportunities to get out of the bottom three go begging and we now see if the next round of fixtures go our way and give us a third chance to make things easier.
Unused Villa Substitutes:
Taylor, Baston, Elmohamady, Reina, Vassilev.
Unused Chelsea Substitutes:
Pedro, Caballero, Zouma, Emerson, Gilmour.
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“Little Bit Of Luck” – Smith Knows Villa Deserved More Even If Everyone’s United We Conceded
Villa Park
Premier League Version Fudge
21/06/2020 4:15 pm
Attendance: 0
Referee: Paul Tierney
Aston Villa | Chelsea | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hause (43) | Pulisic (60), Giroud (62) | ||||||
Nyland | Arrizabalaga | ||||||
Konsa | Azpilicueta | ||||||
Mings | Rudiger | ||||||
Hause | Christensen | ||||||
Targett | Alonso | ||||||
Hourihane | 70 | Loftus-Cheek | 55 | ||||
Douglas Luiz | Kante | ||||||
McGinn | 87 | Kovacic | 55 | ||||
El Ghazi | 70 | Willian | 90 | ||||
Davis | 57 | Giroud | 80 | ||||
Grealish | Mount | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
Samatta | 57 | Barkley | 55 | ||||
Nakamba | 70 | Pulisic | 55 | ||||
Trezeguet | 70 | Abraham | 80 | ||||
Jota | 87 | James | 90 |
Game Statistics |
||
8 | Goal attempts | 19 |
4 | On Target | 5 |
2 | Corners | 10 |
9 | Fouls | 17 |
2 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
26 | % | 74 |
Despite playing two sides well above us in the league, one point from a possible six at Villa Park does not bode well.
Fortunately, we are still in the mix with Bournemouth, West Ham and Watford. Two are likely to join Norwich. Although we have not really suggested we can gain sufficient points for survival, neither have the Cherries or the Hammers.
Looking forwards, I think we have to change tactically. Although away games are not the best occasions to play two up front, Smith will need to bite the bullet very soon. Our target man must have someone playing closer to him to add some bite to the attack. If we just repeat the same old formula, we will meekly take the drop back into the Championship.
Finally, as things are shaping up, I can see a second consecutive year where there will be a really large clear out of players in the offing. Numerically, it is needed, but relegation will force us to move some on who we would rather keep.
sack purslow. Not smiths team. Maupay was our missing link. But we went unknown brazilian.
If we go down, let’s go down swinging. Be nice to see two true forwards up front as you suggest. Like to see the Villa work at a Davis and Samatta formation this week and then see what the dynamic duo can do. Sometimes like the old adage, the best defence is a good offense. UTV!!!