Popular Post John Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 Villa gloriously clambered out of the relegation places last night, leaving Troy Deeney’s Watford and Bournemouth trailing behind them at the trap door. Our new-found goal machine, Mahmoud Trezeguet again scored our winner, his third goal in our last three games. Our Premier League survival is now in our own hands, we have taken it to the last day, so let us finish the job on Sunday! A courageous, hard working and determined team performance last night ended 22 years of hurt. Our first home win against the visitors since 1998 and Manchester City’s welcome earlier heavy win at Vicarage Road, has left us favourites to stay up. We also have found our smiles again! Watford would need an unlikely win at Arsenal and West Ham to beat us on Sunday to leapfrog us. Bournemouth would need both Watford and us to lose, as well as to win themselves at Everton to stay up. We just need to do no worse than these clubs do at the weekend. What had seemed a mission impossible a fortnight ago, is now on the verge of becoming a great escape. I can hear Steve McQueen revving his motor bike’s engine, as I write! Arsenal fresh from an FA Cup semi-final win at the weekend, were not at their absolute best last night. Previously this season, they would not have necessarily needed to have been to beat us. Last night was a different matter. They faced a resolute, heroic, and resilient Villa team, that had seen an opportunity to stay up against the odds and yearned to take it. Arsenal had the possession, but we had the all-important goal. Our resolute defence knew what they had to do, and they did it. Our midfield pressed and got in front of their opponents, at every opportunity. Arsenal have very clinical finishers, but our team battled to starve them of any decent service and got the result that their efforts merited, another clean sheet and a famous victory. Our opportunities to score were not plentiful, but we put one of our two clear chances away. They almost got a late point, but that would have been too cruel to have happened to us in successive games. Thankfully, the ball bounced to safety off the inside of the post, rather than into the net, with only 13 minutes of the 90 remaining and we were almost able to breathe again. What a stirring performance from the lads. They stood up to be counted when it really mattered. They followed their instructions to the letter and our management team also deserve credit for this result and their game management. Against the odds, although many of us feared that getting out of the mess that we had gotten ourselves into, might prove to be beyond us, we stand on the brink of safety today. Let us grab this chance with both hands and make sure that we do not find ourselves in this situation again any time soon, if ever. The last couple of weeks has produced quite a reversal of fortune for clubs at the bottom. Let us hope that Sunday does not put us on the verge of a visit to A & E again and that we can survive without too much cause for concern. We do not want to be doing a Dustin Hoffman and asking, “is it safe?” from behind the sofa in the closing minutes on Sunday. The plump lady cleared her throat and left Villa Park last night. She was headed for Troy Denney’s house and was then due to visit the South coast at the weekend. My player ratings from a game, that will have caused great angst from Bournemouth to Watford, as well as in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, and Small Heath, are: Pepe Reina – 7 – Nketiah jumped in front of Mings to head a 77th minute corner towards the far post. Fortunately, the ball bounced off the inside of the post towards Pepe, who grasped at the ball in relief and then smothered it on the ground. Surprisingly, Pepe had a quiet night, thanks to the “they must not pass” attitude of the players in front of him. He did, however, offer them both assurance and organisation last night. Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 - Substituted after 25 minutes, having gamely but unsuccessfully been unable to run off an earlier injury. Ezri Konsa – 8 - MOTM – Had a very solid game and he kept a lot cooler, than those of us who were watching did. Looked to have an old head on young shoulders last night and was not in any way overawed by the quality of the strikers, that he was up against. He can develop into a tremendous buy. Tyrone Mings – 7 – A 54th minute ball played into the box from Nketiah, evaded his attempted flick at it and the ball ran onto Aubameyang, whose shot on the turn was well blocked by Konsa on the edge of the 6-yard box. Otherwise, he marshalled the defence well and dealt with their forwards very well alongside Ezri. Matt Targett – 7 – Matt was another vital cog in our impressive newly designed defensive engine last night. John McGinn - 7 – Headed a 7th minute Elmo cross well over from near the penalty spot. Jack found him on the edge of the box after 78 minutes and his firm shot was blocked by Martinez and then cleared to safety by Tierney. Getting nearer and nearer to his best with each game, which is so nice to see and so vital to us. Douglas Luiz – 8 – Did not put a foot wrong throughout. He will play in the PL next season. With us! Conor Hourihane – 6 – Worked hard for the cause. Jack Grealish – 8 – Flashed a shot a couple of feet over the upright on 45 minutes, after Trez had fed him just inside their half on the left and he had run on to the edge of their box. Made some nice runs and got into their half regularly. This was so much nearer to the Jack, that we have grown accustomed to seeing in our shirt. He is going nowhere in the window, not even round to see his pal Ross! Mahmoud Trezeguet – 8 – Met a 42nd minute Grealish ball into the box but was unable to get enough pace on his header from around 12 yards and Martinez gathered the ball comfortably. Hit our winner on 27 minutes, to send us all into ecstasy. Hourihane’s out swinging corner got a slight touch at the near post from Mings and fell to him level with the far corner of the 6-yard box, around 12 yards from goal. He then proceeded to drill the ball low and inside of the near post with what was a quality finish. Mbwana Samatta – 6 – Outnumbered by the visitor’s central defenders, worked hard, but lacked service and does not pose the potent goal threat that we had hoped he would, yet. Substitutes: Frederic Guilbert – 7 - Replaced Elmo after 25 minutes, in his first restart appearance and proved to be a very adequate replacement. McGinn headed a half clearance back into the box on 56 minutes, Konsa attempted to chest it down and the ball ran off a defender, to Frederic whose shot, was deflected for a corner off the same defender. I like his will to win and his competitive edge. Keinan Davis – 5 - Came on for Samatta on 72 minutes. Missed a golden opportunity to give us a late two-goal cushion on 75 minutes, but unlike El Ghazi at Everton, it did not cost us the win that it could all so easily have done. Grealish made a powerful run from well inside his own half and played a sweet ball for Keinan, who ran onto it on the edge of the box. Having taken it into the box, he then screwed his shot past Martinez but also wide of the far post. This was a chance that needed to be taken and although the rest of his game can often be impressive, he does also need to be able to take clear chances like these, more often than not. Marvelous Nakamba – Replaced Hourihane on 73 minutes. Not on quite long enough to earn a rating. Henri Lansbury - Replaced McGinn in the third minute of first half stoppage time. Not on long enough to merit a rating, but he was on long enough to be on the winning side against his former club. Stay up Villa! John Lewis 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow1988 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Cheers John. Great post as always and now I know the cut off for the amount of minutes to be rated. Keinan Davis – 5 - Came on for Samatta on 72 minutes. Marvelous Nakamba – Replaced Hourihane on 73 minutes. Not on quite long enough to earn a rating. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, sparrow1988 said: and now I know the cut off for the amount of minutes to be rated. Keinan Davis – 5 - Came on for Samatta on 72 minutes. Marvelous Nakamba – Replaced Hourihane on 73 minutes. Not on quite long enough to earn a rating. It also depends on whether a player has done anything particularly positive or negative, during the time that he's on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Anyone else have a spring in their step today. Proper happy today I was 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Great post @John btw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Thanks for your as usual top match reports! VillaTalk woudn't be the same without them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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