Ratings and Reactions: Villa 1-0 Chelsea

[TRO]

I have said on this site that I look for individual progress and don't see much of it in our team..... well yesterday I did....I seen the very thing I've been looking for in quite a few players too.

 

Bacuna is definately  getting better and yesterday was a good indication....He look balanced and resolute, he has good footballing abilities.

 

Bennett played his best game for us, has good feet, just needs to believe in himself a bit more and show more confidence, on that showing, it is worth persevering with him....I think he will be one of those, took a long time to make it with us like Yorke and Petrov.

 

Delph- Starting to remind me  of a young Alex Cropley ( no I'm not getting carried away)  He can win the ball, can improvise, and can add goals to his game....could be a big job holding on to this boy, if he carries on improving.

 

Westwood- He has just completed 3 games on the spin where he has demonstrated real progress...His passing abilitly is getting even better and he has played with conviction...needs a bit more steel in his game, but very industrious.

 

El Hamadi- Can see why the manager plays him, much improved this term, Again very industrious and enjoys the one,two's to help with the link up play.

 

Albrighton - starting to get his mojo back, adds much needed tempo at crucial moments, but has the ability to hurt teams with his effervescence, need to work on his composure, but a valuable weapon in our attack.

 

 

I have often thought in the past that the Full Backs at Villa park see a fair amount of the ball...so subsequently need quality from them....this has been a bit sparse in recent seasons, but Yesterday reminded me of the days when Gidman, Swain ,Dorigo, etc added so much value to our game.....Our 2 boys did very well indeed and added so much to our win.

 

Lets just hope that Arsenal, Man city, and Chelsea can add real substance to the argument that "we are improving" and that consistency is now our next objective.

[Paddywhack]

I liked the bit where Delph did a score and we winned the game.

[Electric Avenue]

The thought of half of Malaysia / Indonesia and Reading putting a size 10 through their telly when Delph scored is quite satisfying.

[dakid007]

Excellent game, excellent atmosphere there is a good team in there we still need to add quality in summer

[The_Steve]

The photo undermines Graham Poll's argument:

Ramires broke through and was in on goal when he was cynically scythed down by Joe Bennett. Whilst Villa captain Ron Vlaar was in the vicinity of the foul he was behind Ramires and so was not a ‘covering defender’.

 

This was a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity and therefore Bennett should have been dismissed. I could even make a case for a red card for serious foul play looking at the tackle.

 

There was a suggestion that as Vlaar is so fast he would have caught Ramires but the speed or ability of the players does not come into a referee’s consideration when looking at denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunities.

 

[theboyangel]

The title race is not a foregone conclusion after all. Not only did Chelsea lose ground to Manchester City when Fabian Delph's late winner for Villa cut their lead to six points, they ended up short-handed as first Willian and then Ramires were dismissed, the latter incident provoking a heated exchange of opinions that led to José Mourinho being sent from the pitch in the final seconds.

 

Willian picked up a second yellow card for a rather soft foul on the goalscorer, but the stamp on Karim El Ahmadi that brought a straight red for Ramires was altogether more serious and brought the game to a bad-tempered conclusion, with players squaring up to each other in front of the Chelsea bench.

 

"I tried to speak to the referee, he refused to speak to me," said Mourinho, who has still never won at Villa Park. "I prefer not to speak about the referee or the sendings off. If I do that I will be in trouble."

 

Paul Lambert described Ramires's foul as "a shocker, a potential leg-breaker", but could not hide his satisfaction with the result. "We have seen some big moments here over the past two years, but that is probably the best," the Villa manager said. "The team performance was outstanding."

 

City have three games in hand so can now overhaul Chelsea if they keep winning. Their win at Hull was achieved by 10 men but Chelsea could not show the same drive and determination, even before their numbers were reduced.

 

Villa spent the first 10 minutes bemused by the movement and interchangeability of Chelsea's three-quarter line of Oscar, Willian and Eden Hazard as the visitors opened the game with businesslike intent, moving the ball around purposefully and always appearing to have a spare man. It was impressive to watch, yet Chelsea's approach work did not lead to any openings in front of goal, just speculative long shots from Willian and Oscar. Most of the attacking threat was being channelled through the industrious Hazard, and once Villa worked that out they settled down and began to put together some moves of their own.

 

Christian Benteke could not keep his header down when Delph crossed from the left, and El Ahmadi should have done better than waft wastefully over the bar with a decent shooting opportunity, though at least Villa boosted their own confidence by showing they knew the way to goal. When Benteke missed narrowly with a volley from the edge of the area that had Petr Cech scrambling just before half-time it was the closest the game had come to a goal, at least until Nemanja Matic bundled the ball over the Villa line a couple of minutes later, only to be recalled for handball by a linesman. It was hard to detect what the official had seen. It was far from an obvious handling offence, yet the player was slow to celebrate the goal as if he knew he might be pulled up. If that annoyed Mourinho, he was even more incensed on the stroke of the interval when Joe Bennett escaped with just a yellow card for bringing down Ramires in full flight when the Brazilian would have been through on goal. It was quite a long way out to be considered a clear goalscoring opportunity. Other players may have been able to come across and cover, though it would certainly have been a chance. Chris Foy's lenience brought Mourinho to his feet, waving an imaginary card, presumably a red one.

 

The visitors were dominating the game by the hour mark, with Villa rarely managing to cross the halfway line, though Chelsea's lack of conviction in front of goal was again highlighted by the directness the home side showed when they did come up with the occasional counterattack. Benteke was only inches wide after a one-two with Andreas Weimann in the area as once more Villa demonstrated they could soak up pressure and still threaten on the break.

 

Mourinho replaced Fernando Torres with Demba Ba midway through the second half in an attempt to bring more urgency to the Chelsea attack. Torres had not had one of his better games, losing the ball cheaply on more than one occasion, though the real problem seemed to be that while Hazard, Willian and Oscar could find each other with ease, even in tight situations in the penalty area, they could not find Torres or anyone else in a position to take a shy at goal.

 

Then, with 22 minutes remaining, Willian was gone and Chelsea were down to 10. The Brazilian was cautioned in the first half for a foul on El Ahmadi and received a second yellow, rather harshly in view of the trifling nature of the offence, for the slightest of tugs on Delph. That was all the encouragement Villa needed. Ba was a spectator, as Torres had been, and after Ron Vlaar had missed with a header from a corner, Delph put his side in front. Whether he applied the finish he intended was debatable, though he set up the goal by dispossessing Chelsea on halfway. If there was a bit of luck in the way he connected with Marc Albrighton's return pass to guide the ball past John Terry and Cech he probably deserved it. Benteke brought a save from Cech and Delph hit the bar in stoppage time.

 

Chelsea could have no complaints, especially after finishing with nine men and no manager.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/15/aston-villa-chelsea-premier-league-match-report

 

I read this this morning and if hadn't of watched the match I would've thought that we had been played off the park.

 

I usually like the Guardian Sports section but this was a bit too Chelski/London-centric and not a balanced report on yesterday's proceedings and typically no mention of the shonky decisions that cost us in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

 

Re the description of the Delph goal, I found it totally disrepectful - would Paul Wilson (the reporter) have questioned whether mssrs Hazard, Oscar or Willian intended that goal? Doubtful.

[pacbuddies]

Great result, great performance and a vital (if totally unexpected) 3 points. Well done Villa.

[Davkaus]

The photo undermines Graham Poll's argument:

Ramires broke through and was in on goal when he was cynically scythed down by Joe Bennett. Whilst Villa captain Ron Vlaar was in the vicinity of the foul he was behind Ramires and so was not a ‘covering defender’.

 

This was a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity and therefore Bennett should have been dismissed. I could even make a case for a red card for serious foul play looking at the tackle.

 

There was a suggestion that as Vlaar is so fast he would have caught Ramires but the speed or ability of the players does not come into a referee’s consideration when looking at denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunities.

 

 

 

In the heat of the moment, Graham Poll would probably have settled for just showing him 3 yellows.

[Silafou's_besi_mate]

It has taken me until now to finally calm down about our result yesterday and write something on here.

Before the game I was actually thinking of not renewing my season tickets. With an hour journey to villa park and woeful home performances, I just couldn't be bothered. Yesterday put my faith back in Villa. Not only was the team brilliant, but we were actually singing in the lower trinity! Blooming heck I hear you say, but first time since last blues derby has there been an atmosphere like that at Villa Park - just shows your what the team can do when we get behind them.

Guzan was awesome and made some great saves. Was lucky with one or two reaction saves that went well for him, but that's the sign of a good goalkeeper.

Bennett was awesome. I was very impressed with him in this game and it shows he has real potential. But we have to support him and stop giving him the rediculous stick that he gets on here. He's a confidence player, so let's get behind him.

Bacuna was awesome again, as were baker and Vlaar. And it was great to see the reaction of the team,particularly Bacuna after that tackle - it showed how much the team support each other.

Midfield was awesome and Delph should get some praise. But the three of them are starting to work really well.

Up top I still don't think that weimann is the player he was last season, but Benteke and Gabby played well.

For the first time in a long time, all the players looked up for it, didn't give much space or respect to the opposition and really took the game by the scruff of its neck. Something we have been lacking in ages.

For the last few weeks I have been worried about villatalk as all we seemed to want to talk about was the new kit because our performance on the field was so poor. Yesterday put my faith back in Villa - and at least it's given us something to talk about. Other than next seasons kit!

Edited March 16, 2014 by Silafou's_besi_mate

[abdulaziz1]

Brilliant Win .. Still happy and in a high mode since the victory !

 

UTV !

[Electric Avenue]

We won that's all that matters

[KevMur]

Fantastic win, suddenly the next 7 (!) games look winnable

Stoke (H)
Man Utd (A)

Fulham (H)
Palace (A)
Southampton (H)

Swansea (A)

Hull (H)

These 7 games followed by season's last 2 fixtures away to Man City & Spurs.

[jayEm]

That's a very nice run of games. Even just 8/9 points would be great.

Edited March 16, 2014 by jayEm

[1974Centenary]

I would not expect us to lose to anybody on that list especially after yesterdays performance.

[Electric Avenue]

The tough games will be against teams fighting for their lives - palace Fulham Swansea . We have lost to 2 of them already

[The Fun Factory]

I would not expect us to lose to anybody on that list especially after yesterdays performance.

I do because this is not a consistent side. If it was we would be about 10 points and 2 places better off, and not be losing to league one sides at home. But as I have learnt following the Villa, take the good moments because they will drop a bollock sooner rather than later.

[KevMur]

 

I would not expect us to lose to anybody on that list especially after yesterdays performance.

I do because this is not a consistent side. If it was we would be about 10 points and 2 places better off, and not be losing to league one sides at home. But as I have learnt following the Villa, take the good moments because they will drop a bollock sooner rather than later.

 

The voice of reason

[PompeyVillan]

I would not expect us to lose to anybody on that list especially after yesterdays performance.

You wouldn't expect us to lose to Man United? Where have you been for the last 20 years, regardless of form, that's an easy 3 points for Man United!

[AntrimBlack]

 

The title race is not a foregone conclusion after all. Not only did Chelsea lose ground to Manchester City when Fabian Delph's late winner for Villa cut their lead to six points, they ended up short-handed as first Willian and then Ramires were dismissed, the latter incident provoking a heated exchange of opinions that led to José Mourinho being sent from the pitch in the final seconds.

 

Willian picked up a second yellow card for a rather soft foul on the goalscorer, but the stamp on Karim El Ahmadi that brought a straight red for Ramires was altogether more serious and brought the game to a bad-tempered conclusion, with players squaring up to each other in front of the Chelsea bench.

 

"I tried to speak to the referee, he refused to speak to me," said Mourinho, who has still never won at Villa Park. "I prefer not to speak about the referee or the sendings off. If I do that I will be in trouble."

 

Paul Lambert described Ramires's foul as "a shocker, a potential leg-breaker", but could not hide his satisfaction with the result. "We have seen some big moments here over the past two years, but that is probably the best," the Villa manager said. "The team performance was outstanding."

 

City have three games in hand so can now overhaul Chelsea if they keep winning. Their win at Hull was achieved by 10 men but Chelsea could not show the same drive and determination, even before their numbers were reduced.

 

Villa spent the first 10 minutes bemused by the movement and interchangeability of Chelsea's three-quarter line of Oscar, Willian and Eden Hazard as the visitors opened the game with businesslike intent, moving the ball around purposefully and always appearing to have a spare man. It was impressive to watch, yet Chelsea's approach work did not lead to any openings in front of goal, just speculative long shots from Willian and Oscar. Most of the attacking threat was being channelled through the industrious Hazard, and once Villa worked that out they settled down and began to put together some moves of their own.

 

Christian Benteke could not keep his header down when Delph crossed from the left, and El Ahmadi should have done better than waft wastefully over the bar with a decent shooting opportunity, though at least Villa boosted their own confidence by showing they knew the way to goal. When Benteke missed narrowly with a volley from the edge of the area that had Petr Cech scrambling just before half-time it was the closest the game had come to a goal, at least until Nemanja Matic bundled the ball over the Villa line a couple of minutes later, only to be recalled for handball by a linesman. It was hard to detect what the official had seen. It was far from an obvious handling offence, yet the player was slow to celebrate the goal as if he knew he might be pulled up. If that annoyed Mourinho, he was even more incensed on the stroke of the interval when Joe Bennett escaped with just a yellow card for bringing down Ramires in full flight when the Brazilian would have been through on goal. It was quite a long way out to be considered a clear goalscoring opportunity. Other players may have been able to come across and cover, though it would certainly have been a chance. Chris Foy's lenience brought Mourinho to his feet, waving an imaginary card, presumably a red one.

 

The visitors were dominating the game by the hour mark, with Villa rarely managing to cross the halfway line, though Chelsea's lack of conviction in front of goal was again highlighted by the directness the home side showed when they did come up with the occasional counterattack. Benteke was only inches wide after a one-two with Andreas Weimann in the area as once more Villa demonstrated they could soak up pressure and still threaten on the break.

 

Mourinho replaced Fernando Torres with Demba Ba midway through the second half in an attempt to bring more urgency to the Chelsea attack. Torres had not had one of his better games, losing the ball cheaply on more than one occasion, though the real problem seemed to be that while Hazard, Willian and Oscar could find each other with ease, even in tight situations in the penalty area, they could not find Torres or anyone else in a position to take a shy at goal.

 

Then, with 22 minutes remaining, Willian was gone and Chelsea were down to 10. The Brazilian was cautioned in the first half for a foul on El Ahmadi and received a second yellow, rather harshly in view of the trifling nature of the offence, for the slightest of tugs on Delph. That was all the encouragement Villa needed. Ba was a spectator, as Torres had been, and after Ron Vlaar had missed with a header from a corner, Delph put his side in front. Whether he applied the finish he intended was debatable, though he set up the goal by dispossessing Chelsea on halfway. If there was a bit of luck in the way he connected with Marc Albrighton's return pass to guide the ball past John Terry and Cech he probably deserved it. Benteke brought a save from Cech and Delph hit the bar in stoppage time.

 

Chelsea could have no complaints, especially after finishing with nine men and no manager.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/15/aston-villa-chelsea-premier-league-match-report

 

I read this this morning and if hadn't of watched the match I would've thought that we had been played off the park.

 

I usually like the Guardian Sports section but this was a bit too Chelski/London-centric and not a balanced report on yesterday's proceedings and typically no mention of the shonky decisions that cost us in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

 

Re the description of the Delph goal, I found it totally disrepectful - would Paul Wilson (the reporter) have questioned whether mssrs Hazard, Oscar or Willian intended that goal? Doubtful.

 

 

Ridiculous report. Perhaps he did not watch it.

In spite of all their possession, they really only threatened our goal seriously on a few occasions, whereas I felt we had chances throughout the entire match.

As the match went on, and even before the first sending off, I was beginning to think the unthinkable.

A great performance, and Delph MOM for me, though everyone played well, and that is fantastic.

We are presently `best of the rest', and it seems very likely that we are now safe.

[daggy_333]

If we can pick up another 12 points from the remaining fixtures that wpuld represent a decent improvement from last season for me.