Maybe not a classic, but pretty entertaining, especially in the second half, and a very even affair this one. Arsenal hit the woodwork twice, but otherwise it was Aston Villa doing most of the pressing. Let’s just take a quick look at the shots either side managed to fire off:-

The blue are on target. The red are off-target and the dotted red lines indicate the two shots which hit the post and crossbar. The grey lines are the 8 shots which were blocked.

I think the passing has been more than covered, no need to go there again.  (No one mention long balls!!)

In the end, I don’t think there was anything fundamentally wrong with the way we played. We still haven’t scored, but it’s not exactly weak opposition we’re drawing blanks against. There weren’t any clear cut chances per se, but if there was an attempt I could look back on and say for certain that more should have made of, I’d pick Downing’s somewhat lame header at the far post.

Sure, Gabby and Heskey are the ones who are technically charged with finding the net, although perhaps to a lesser degree in Emile’s case. Gabby was responsible for Villa’s single shot on target and Almunia was forced to make a very good save, but still it was Downing’s effort that left me feeling like it was the one that got away. Perhaps it was because this wasn’t Downing’s strongest performance in a Villa shirt.

I don’t normally do player ratings, and I’m not about to start, but I would recommend heading over to Villans Worldwide as Jye Cajar has done a very good job and I really couldn’t disagree with his assessment.

Ashley Young rightly won the Man of the Match award and as MON has said, he gave Clichy an absolutely torrid time down the right and his delivery was superb. In the right mood, John Carew would have dined out on those crosses all day long.

Next up, Fulham at the Cottage which won’t be easy by any stretch and after that we’re back to the capital to take on Tottenham. Definitely a couple of games that we need to stamp some authority on in order to hold our Premiership season together.

But look below, it could hardly be more even and while Arsenal have the share of problems at the moment, they’re still considered title contenders at this stage. No shame in a draw and after what Fabregas did to us at the Emirates, I’ll take it.

0	Aston Villa	Jan 27th 2010	Arsenal	0
	48	Possession %	52
	11	Shots	15
	1	On Target	3
	7	Corners	7
	5	Offsides	1
		Scorers
Heskey, Dunne		Booked	Vermaelen, Clichy
		Sent Off
	214	Good Passes	273
	74	Bad Passes	77
	15	Interceptions	25
	37	Tackles Won	29
	26	Tackles Lost	27
	8	Blocks	0
	17	Free Kicks	21
Starting XI: 1. Friedel 24. Cuellar 2. Young 29. Collins 5. Dunne 19. Petrov 8. Milner 7. Young 6. Downing 18. Heskey 11. Agbonlahor Subs: 22. Guzan 14. Delfouneso 4. Sidwell 21. Shorey 15. Davies 23. Beye 16. Delph
Average Position Map