A very defensive display from Aston Villa, more so during the second half, forced Spurs to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw. If they’re wondering how they could knock 9 past Wigan last week, but struggled to find the net at all today at Villa Park they need look no further than Brad Friedel and Carlos Cuellar. I don’t normally bother with MotM, but if pushed for an answer I’d give it to the Spaniard as
From a statistical perspective, probably one of the most even games you’ll see. It’s fair to say that Burnley edged the first half and Villa the second, 1-1 has to be regarded as a fair result.
As I mentioned in the first review, Burnley had a home record coming into this game of played 6, won 6 5, so we managed to resist that trend at least. [Edit: My mistake, Burnley have lost at home… to Wigan, if you can
A pretty frustrating game on many levels for me. I only got to see portions of the game, but from what I saw it wasn’t the finest of performances you’ll see from Aston Villa this year. Those International breaks are becoming quite tedious.
I missed the opening goal, but it came from a free kick floated in and headed by Caldwell. I saw a quick flash on replay and there’s a hint of offside about it. I
5
Aston Villa
Nov 7th 2009
Bolton
1
57
Possession %
43
23
Shots
13
12
On Target
6
8
Corners
1
2
Offsides
1
5′ A Young, 43′ Agbonlahor, 53′ Carew, 72′ Milner, 75′ Cuellar
Scorers
44′ Elmander
Gardner
Booked
Cohen, Cahill, Davies, Robinson
Sent Off
277
Good Passes
159
59
Bad Passes
68
18
Interceptions
18
48
Tackles Won
48
35
Tackles Lost
37
2
Blocks
3
18
Free Kicks
18
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
2. Young
25. Warnock
24. Cuellar
5. Dunne
20. Reo-Coker
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
10. Carew
11. Agbonlahor
Subs:
22. Guzan
14. Delfouneso
26. Gardner
21. Shorey
47. Clark
12. Albrighton
16. Delph
Average Position Map
Aside from blotting their copy books by giving up a sloppy goal, Villa ticked all the right boxes today. It doesn’t seem very long ago I was suggesting our slightly jaded looking side needed to deliver an absolute thumping to an unfortunate victim in order to restore some confidence.
What we need, I think, is the confidence that can be derived from dishing out a real spanking. One of those games where everything goes right and finishes in a 4
The average position map reflects the fact that 53% of Villa’s attack went down the left channel. Considering Ashley Young pretty much spent the first 45 minutes on the right wing, that’s some achievement.
Again, since MON made a change at half time, Reo-Coker on for Heskey, I’ve included 12 players on the map. You can see how lop sided and unbalanced the shape is. Can’t help feeling sorry for Habib Beye.
2
West Ham
Oct 31st 2009
Aston Villa
1
57
Possession %
44
20
Shots
19
7
On Target
8
6
Corners
14
3
Offsides
3
45′
This one is a tough pill to swallow, folks. Lots of incidents to discuss, not so much football. Where to start?
Teamsheet seems like a good place – Friedel, Beye, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Young, Heksey, Petrov, Sidwell, Agbonlahor and Carew. Ash played on the right in place of the injured Milner with Heskey on the left flank. I would say that the Warnock / Heskey combination down the left worked a little better than the Beye /
A predictably tight affair was statistically edged by Villa. Perhaps Everton will be the more satisfied with the draw, they’ll certainly have less complaints about being reduced to 10 men. Ironically, Everton could actually appeal Bilyaletdinov’s early bath as he received a straight red card while Carlos Cuellar was harshly shown a second yellow card late on, but dismissals resulting from two bookings cannot be appealed. Yeah, that’s fair, isn’t it?
* The sharp eyed among may well notice
Aston Villa had to battle back from a goal down to share the points with Everton at Goodison Park in a game that was few on chances, but sprung into life in the final minutes with both sides reduced to 10 men.
Villa created perhaps the better chances of the first half, although Everton edged the possession. Nevertheless, Everton would consider themselves somewhat fortunate to take the lead on the stroke of half time when a ball lobbed into the