The January transfer window slammed shut on the eve of yesterday’s game. Our transfer business took the form of concluding a deal that had been arranged during the previous window and using the money that we received for the outgoing Lowry to cover the wages of Robbie Keane until he leaves us later this month. This game has shown us how much we will miss Robbie when he does leave us and that will be all too soon. Although he may not be as fleet of foot as he once and may not quite have the same engine he remains a clever player with a goal threat who gives us something we have been missing. He is able to encourage those around him to play by maintaining the performance levels he sets of himself and his presence and the respect he has earned in the game demands something approaching that level of performance from his team mates. You get what you pay for and what we got may just be enough to get us to safety sooner than might otherwise have been the case.
QPR had a much more active window than us and that paid early dividends with a debut goal from Cisse that put us once again on the back foot at Villa Park. When Warnock handed them a second I guess most of us thought that was probably the end of the game as a contest. But as Arsenal showed us on Sunday it is possible to come back from two goals down and we did that to get something from this game and to add another point towards our safety target.
Bent’s 100th Premier League goal that came late in the first half was vital. It gave us some belief that we could get back into the game after all and it lowered the sound levels on what would otherwise have been a very loud chorus of boos. We started the second half very strongly and played some good football at times but when the goal did not come we did not accept that it was not going to be our day and came again until we got our second and at the end it was them that were looking for the final whistle and with a little luck and a referee that was prepared to make a decision we might just have won this one with one of the two very strong cases for a penalty we had last night when a hand and an arm denied us goals.
My player ratings from a game that has increased or maintained the gap between us and those who occupy the spots at the foot of the table we need to avoid are:
Shay Given – 6 – Rarely tested on a night when he nevertheless found the ball resting in the net behind him twice.
Alan Hutton - 6 – His best game to date in our shirt. Got forward pretty well and got some decent crosses over including the one that presented Bent with our vital first goal just before half time.
Carlos Cuellar – 6 – A good display that reinforces my view that he should not be shipped out at the earliest opportunity as he is one of our more solid defenders.
Richard Dunne – 6 – Solid enough but not an easy game for him up against the pace of Cisse.
Stephen Warnock – 4 – Recovered pretty well from the profound embarrassment of stretching their lead to two goals when a twelfth minute Taiwo cross went over the head of Dunne and his inexplicable header went across Given and into the corner of the net . He almost did the same thing against Everton but Given was not able to save his blushes this time and we may need to put a man on him in the box in the future as he has become a threat to our goal when a cross comes over.
Charles N’Zogbia – 8 – A particularly encouraging second half when he ran for fun at defenders and his confidence levels will have taken a big boost from his splendid goal on 79 minutes. Petrov pulled a lovely cross back for Charles who hit a sweet first time volley into the corner of the net for our second. Had a shot on 86 minute pushed out by Kenny for a corner after Petrov had found him and he almost got a winner in stoppage time but Onuoha’s head blocked his goal bound effort.
Stiliyan Petrov – 7 – Another tidy performance. He keeps possession well and it was his fine cross that led to our equalizer. Might have scored on 36 minutes when a shot from Keane was deflected off him and cannoned onto the crossbar on 36 minutes. Unlucky on 51 minutes when his shot wrong footed Kenny only for the keepers trailing leg to keep the ball out of the net.
Ciaran Clark - 6 – He remains a defender who is being asked to fill a specialist midfield role and at times it showed. Made a good run and was found well inside the box by Keane on 13 minutes but he failed to get a shot in from a good position. Might have scored with an on target shot at the end of a good flowing move that Derry’s raised hand kept out only for the referee to turn down what was a clear penalty.
Stephen Ireland – 7 – He is maintaining the sort of form we had feared we would not see from him in a Villa shirt and he looks to be enjoying himself and relishing the opportunity to play football regularly again. Got a block in on Wright-Phillips’ shot but the ball ran through to Cisse whose first time shot gave Given no chance for their opening goal.
Robbie Keane – 8 – MOTM – See above. He made us tick up front and played a large part in much of the good things that we did. Had an effort from inside the box saved by Kenny on 32 minutes and a minute later could not quite turn in a Dunne header from a Petrov corner from close range. Hit a curling 58th minute shot that Kenny stretched one hand out to and was not quite able to connect with a good Warnock cross on 73 minutes.
Darren Bent – 7 – A good display last night and he was clearly motivated by the opportunity to get that 100th goal and get it he did. Got a strong header onto a Hutton cross from outside the box on 40 minutes which went a couple of feet wide of the post before scoring 5 minutes later. Ireland found Keane who played a nicely weighted pass to Hutton whose inviting cross was slotted past Kenny by Darren who had got across his marker. Could have done better on 70 minutes when his bouncing shot went wide of the post. Seemed to be denied a penalty on 83 minutes when Cuellar flicked on a corner that he hit well which Smith cleared off the line with what seemed to be his arm as he turned into the shot.
Substitutes:
Barry Bannan – 6 - Replaced Clark on 70 minutes but we really need to be starting him in games like this rather than going for the more cautious approach of playing a defender in the middle at home. Did what we have come to expect from him during the time he was on the field.
Up the Villa!
John Lewis
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