Three substitutes combined to give us our first home win for four long months yesterday. The usual chorus of “you don’t know what you’re doing” greeted the first of these three substitutions. But it was that player whose first goal for Villa changed what might otherwise have been boos to cheers at the end of a game that we really needed to win. Big Eck might claim these were inspired substitutions the result of which demonstrated that he did actually know what he was doing after all. But that is a claim for him to make and I doubt that in the present climate he will, but no matter, the roar of the fans that still remained in the ground when that ball hit the net was a joy to behold and how long it has been since we have had the opportunity to celebrate a win, a goal and even better a late winner at Villa Park? Let’s now go wild and do it again Tuesday week and by doing so make our safety all but mathematically certain.
We had a decent first half given our recent standards at Villa Park and given the lions share of the half that we had Fulham must have been as relieved to have been still level at the break as they were disappointed to still not be at the final whistle. I was surprised that Fulham were so lacking in ambition given the run they were on and that played into our hands during the first 45 minutes and gave us time to settle. In the second half they did spring to life and did for a while look the more likely side to win it. But we kept at it until the death and those three young lions combined to do for them right at the end of what had been a better game than many of us had expected and one that I think we had the better of and so deserved to win.
My player ratings from a game that has left us 11 points clear of the bottom 3 are:
Shay Given – 6 – A quiet day at the office but he was on hand to do what was required when necessary stopping a Johnson shot creeping in at his near post on 31 minutes and helping a Duff effort over the bar on 53 minutes.
Alan Hutton - 7 – His best game for us in our shirt. A very solid defensive display and did not look out of place when he came forward.
James Collins – 6 – Not put under too much pressure but he was competent enough yesterday alongside Carlos and did well to chest a corner down on 18 minutes that he then hit wide.
Carlos Cuellar– 7 – The best of our back four for me yesterday and since his return to the starting line up to the extent that the loss of Dunne has not been felt as much as I had anticipated it would be (as yet).
Stephen Warnock – 6 – No costly defensive error today. Stephen just looked solid defensively when he was tested.
Marc Albrighton – 6 – Looked better for us than he has done of late and made some decent runs at defenders if not always producing an end product. Unlucky to see his effort from just inside the box rattle the woodwork on 61 minutes after Gabby had fed Hutton who then himself did the same for Marc to set up the shooting opportunity. Faded a little as the game wore on.
Stephen Ireland – 7 – His rehabilitation continues apace and after this sort of performance he needs to start every game between now and the end of the season and we might then have this player back at his confident best and pushed further up where his touch is most effective.
Chris Herd – 8 – MOTM – Worked very hard and he is beginning to look more accomplished in our midfield than he has a right to be as someone who is primarily a defender.
Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Solid enough and kept possession well but he will get more by encouraging young players around him than blaming them when something goes wrong.
Charles N’Zogbia – 6 – Seemed to be getting a second wind when he was replaced and he was our main wide threat up until then.
Gabriel Agbonlahor - 5 – Given a lot of work to do as a lone striker but he seems to lack sharpness on his return from injury which I have put down to his not being match fit to date. Given a very good opportunity on 17 minutes when Petrov pounced on a Murphy error to put the ball into his path but his shot was straight at Schwarzer.
Substitutes:
Andreas Weimann – 7 - Replaced N’Zogbia on 72 minutes and gave us the vital winner in stoppage time after Bannan had fed Gardner whose shot from the edge of the box was parried out towards Andreas whose diving header was well stopped by the keeper’s left hand but Weimann was not to be denied and his forward impetus led him to bundle the ball in with some aplomb when unbalanced but determined. His was a poacher’s goal. He took the chance that something might happen and something did when he pounced on the goalkeeping error.
Barry Bannan – Came off the bench to replace Herd on 82 minutes and had a hand in the goal but was not on long enough to secure a rating.
Gary Gardner – Replaced our captain on 90 minutes and showed what a player he is in the making with his very first touch when he pinged a great ball from one side of the field to another before his late shot led to a mistake by Schwarzer and our winner. Not enough touches to gain a numerical rating but this brief cameo demonstrated that he has the talent to win games for us and this will be the first of many.
Up the Villa!
John Lewis
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