Villa tamed the Wembley bound Tigers yesterday and by so doing secured our place in the top flight for another season. But now is the time to make the necessary changes to prevent another season like this being set before us. If we continue to flirt with relegation season after season the consequences will be inevitable and unacceptable for our football club. What we want now is that promised bright future rather than a dismal, depressing and embarrassing one.

A goal on 58 seconds gave us just the start we had wanted in this vital game for us. Although we were pegged back on 28 minutes we did not fold as we had done against Stoke and instead Weimann claimed two late first half goals at the perfect time. The crowd got behind the team and they responded to prevent us having to rely on the results of other teams to ensure our safety. But six home wins, ten home defeats and 38 points from 36 games simply is not good enough for this football club.

It was a good time to be playing the visitors but as their manager said “we got what we deserved and that was nothing” and who among us would want to disagree with his wise words?

My player ratings from a game that has seen us finally hit the 38 points that we needed to secure our safety are:

Brad Guzan – 7 – Did so well to stretch out a hand to keep a 30 yard Huddlestone shot from finding the top corner of the net on 35 minutes. Our brittle confidence might well have been shot had we gone behind at that point. Brad also made a decent low save from the same player on 75 minutes when he hit a shot from the edge of the box.

Matt Lowton – 6 – A solid enough performance.

Ciaran Clark – 6 – Fortunate not to pay the price on 59 minutes when he missed his kick and presented Rosenior with the opportunity to find Jelavic inside the box but the striker scuffed his chance. Ciaran was otherwise solid enough yesterday.

Ron Vlaar – 7 – Solid in his own game and did his bit in maintaining the concentration of the two central defenders alongside him.

Nathan Baker – 6 – Unlucky not to head the second in himself on 41 minutes when first his powerful header from a Delph corner was kept out near the line by Jelavic and then his follow up header bounced onto the crossbar and out. But he played a key part in that goal and gave a much improved performance at the back.

Ryan Bertrand – 6 – Let us hope this will not be his last Villa Park appearance in our shirt. Again gave us the assurance we have lacked so often this season in this position. The money needs to be found to make this and other signings happen in the coming months

Fabian Delph - 6 – Held things together in the middle.

Ashley Westwood – 7 – Hit our opener. Ash did well yesterday and can kick on next season. Gabby was fed the ball on the line just inside their half in the 1^st minute. He then made a run at pace brushing Davies aside before playing the ball into Albrighton who missed his kick but recovered to feed Westwood on the edge of the box who proceeded to coolly pick his spot and hit the ball past Harper into the corner of the net.

Marc Albrighton – 6 – Played his part in our second and we now need to secure his services for next year.

Andreas Weimann – 8 – MOTM – Stepped up to the plate when Gabby left the field and scored the two late first half goals that have kept us up. Made a good run into the box on 39 minutes having left two defenders in his wake but his shot was blocked by Harper. He was Andi on the spot on 41 minutes when after Baker had been denied by Jelavic and then woodwork he headed home an attempted headed clearance from Jelavic to restore our lead. He then added a second in the second minute of first half stoppage time. Albrighton did well to keep the ball in play before finding Bowrey nicely. Bowrey then took his time before hitting a good cross into Andi whose glancing header found the corner of the net our third and match winning goal. Might have had a hat-trick had Bowrey played the ball back to him early on 52 minutes when he had run on unmarked instead of hitting a shot himself which Harper kept out at his near post.

Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Left the field on 24 minutes having picked up a knock in a clash with ex-Villa man Davies on his return to Villa Park. But he had already made a big contribution to our win in this “Cup Final” with the determined run that led to our opener.

Substitutes:

Jordan Bowrey – 7 – Replaced Gabby on 24 minutes and went on to give his best performance in our shirt. Unluckily turned Rosenior’s 28th minute effort into his own net after Huddlestone had played a free kick to the unmarked but offside defender on the edge of the box. Might have tried sticking out a leg on 25 minutes when the ball sped past him for a corner having taken a slight deflection after he had headed the ball onto Weimann who had beat Davies and got a cross over at the second attempt. Had a 39^th minute header tipped over the bar by Harper having got on the end of a ball from Delph.

Karim El Ahmadi – Replaced Albrighton on 76 minutes and was not on long enough to earn a rating.

Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Weimann on 81 minutes and was also not on the field long enough to get a rating.

Onwards and Upwards Villa!

John Lewis

Source: Player Match Ratings: Safe at last!