Player Match Ratings: Wilder’s whinging again!

[John]

Villa started the new season with a win, a penalty save and a clean sheet. This win also gave us three successive home wins for the first time since 2007. What is not to like about that?

Chris Wilder really lives up to his surname when he visits Villa Park. Once again, he was raging about decisions made, or not made by the referee and by VAR, after the game. Does he reserve these displays of umbrage for his annual visits to Villa Park, or does he react the same way everywhere else?

Villa started well and had the better of the early minutes. The first of the decisions that left Wilder fuming came after just 12 minutes and it left The Blades down to ten men. Watkins and Egan both ran alongside each other in chase of a ball played out of defence by Mings. Ollie appeared destined to outpace the defender, but Egan grappled with him like a wrestler in an attempt to hold him back. Ramsdale came out of his area to collect the ball, but had the defender not prevented Watkins getting ahead of him, I doubt he would have reached it before our new striker would have. Referee Graham Scott agreed and gave Egan a red card for preventing a clear goal scoring opportunity.       

Sheffield United initially reacted to this by increasing their foul count, but were given an opportunity against the run of play, to go ahead after 33 minutes when they were awarded a penalty, after a slight touch by Targett felled Basham inside the box. Would Wilder be happy with that decision? Of course not, a penalty was insufficient punishment in his opinion. He had decided from his touchline vantage point, that Targett had deliberately brought his player down, without attempting to reach the ball, so should have been sent off to level up the numbers. The fine penalty save by Martinez must have heightened his feelings of injustice.   

This was not a great Villa performance, but it was a winning one. Our players will benefit from this match. It will give us some of the sharpness, that we were lacking last night, that a run of pre-season friendlies would normally have given us by the time that the opening game of the season was upon us. We have often struggled of late, against teams that are reduced to ten men and that proved to be the case again yesterday. The Blades put men behind the ball and their target became a clean sheet and a point, as soon as Egan departed (if not before).

Our visitors are a well organised and combative team. Going down to ten men did not change that and we struggled to break down their resolute defence. We had the possession, but we lacked the spark and invention to make the clear chances, that would see us comfortable winners, until we did create a couple of late opportunities, as they tired near the end. We needed something different to break down a defence that was determined to frustrate us. That was either sitting in the stands or still waiting to become a Villa player last night. The goal did come though, from a set piece on a night when it had seemed one goal might well be enough and so it proved.

This win has taken us three points above yesterday’s visitors and into the top half of the fledgling league table. We are six points ahead of WBA and ahead of the mighty Leeds as well as last season’s high-flying Wanderers. Mind the gap!!

My player ratings from a game that has left us undefeated in our last five league games are:

Emiliano Matinez – 8 – MOTM – Saved a penalty on his league debut and he has clearly carried the confidence he had gained from his recent performances for Arsenal with him to B6. Showed he is comfortable with the ball at his feet and this was tested early into the game, with some back passes that would have had us on the edge of our seats (had we been able to be there). Dived to his right to push Lundstram’s penalty around the post. As Tyrone told him after the penalty save, “F****** brilliant”    

Matty Cash – 6 – Hit some nice crosses and made a confident debut.  

Ezri Konsa – 7 – Scored our winner, which was his second goal in his last four games. He is becoming almost as prolific a scorer as Trez lately isn’t he? Mings made a clever run from the centre of the 6-yard box to level with the near post, where he flicked on Targett’s 63rd minute corner for Ezri to head home our winner. He climbed above Stevens on the right of the 6-yard box and directed the ball just inside the far post past Ramsdale.      

Tyrone Mings – 7 – Terrific news that like Jack, he has also signed a new contract. Dominant in the air and a solid performance. Hit a long ball for Watkins to run onto from level with his own box, so might have a valid claim for an assist for the sending off, as well as the winner?      

Matt Targett – 5 – Conceded a penalty on 33 minutes, when Basham who had run unseen behind him onto a Burke cross, fell when moving in front of him, having had his back foot clipped by the defender.              

John McGinn - 5 – Hit a 1st minute Cash cross first time from the far edge of the 6-yard box, which went over. Trez played a nice ball back to him on 85 minutes, but his shot from outside the box went wide of the right-hand post. He has not been at his best since his return from injury really, but I have no doubt that he will get back to his best shortly.

Douglas Luiz – 7 – Another good solid display.                      

Conor Hourihane – 5 – Headed the ball to Jack inside the box on 41 minutes, who played the ball back to him on the edge of the box, but he lifted his shot over the bar.             

Jack Grealish – 7 –Watkins ran just inside the left of the box, before he pulled the ball back to Jack whose 68th minute shot was a yard wide of the far post. Hit a shot a couple of feet wide of the near post from the edge of the area on 81 minutes. Watkins played a 92nd minute ball across the area for Jack, who aimed a shot for the far corner, but a block took it over the bar.    

Mahmoud Trezeguet – 5 – Jack played a 77th minute ball from the left of the box to the right, which he met with a volley that bounced a couple of yards in front of him and went harmlessly wide of the far post.                               

Ollie Watkins – 7 – Ran strongly onto a ball played out of defence by Mings on the 12th minute and would have reached the ball, had Egan not been holding and pulling him back. The linesman who had the best view kept the flag down, but the referee was prepared to show Egan red for denying Ollie the opportunity of netting his first league goal for us. Curled a nice 78th minute shot from just inside the left-hand side of the area for the far top corner, which went just over.                             

Substitute:

Keinan Davis – 5 – Replaced Hourihane on 62 minutes. Did not make a noticeable impression on the game, during the time he had available to do so.     

Up the Villa!

John Lewis

[blandy]

Going into the game I thought Sheffield United would have an advantage from having played more games, and would be sharper, so for Villa to win was excellent. Sheffield Utd are a heck of a team to try and break down and they defended really well once they were a man down.

It was really good to see the new keeper not just make an excellent save, but look and sound commanding - he was shouting at the defenders all the way through. Another leader at the back alongside Mings.

But the player who impressed me the most was Douglas Luiz - I don't think he misplaced a pass until the 83rd minute, and his constant and quick use of the ball without giving it away meant that we were able to dominate the play, without being hit on the counter through errors in the middle. He was pretty much flawless in his play.

Not the best game in the world to watch, but a solid performance, a win, and some promising signs - the new players all looked good and seem to have fitted in very well. Something's going right somewhere. The substitution worked well, too, even though Conor was continually putting great balls in from free kicks and corners, the extra muscle up front was what was needed.

[BOF]

I'm glad we opened against Sheffield United this week and not Manchester City last week. We might've gone into this one licking some fresh wounds and looking up at our opponents in the table instead of down.  

I was impressed with the win. Sheffield United were always going to be very difficult to beat, and I've hear it said on more than one occasion in the aftermath of the game that "this is one we wouldn't have won last season".  I definitely agree with that.  They're defensive by nature, and very good at it. But by going down to ten they were able to legitimately park the bus, and I'd wager they're one of the best in the league at battening the hatches. Their quality is pretty much all in defence, and it was no mean feat to break them down. I've heard criticism of how difficult we made it, but I thought we were patient and went about it the right way. We didn't give in to the temptation of peppering the goal with futile long shots.  Ramsdale would have eat them up. We kept up the crossing and we tried engineering it through their defensive line via through-balls or dribbling. They defended resolutely, as you would expect.

We got there in the end and that's all that matters.  We dominated play as you'd expect against ten men. The debutants were fantastic and the quality seems to be getting there all over the park now. There were cobwebs as you'd expect.  In fact I thought before the game that the cobwebs might be very significant given that United and Burnley had already lost having opened their seasons against sides who had played previously.  We will be better next time out.  This was an odd performance in a way, but a 3pt start is huge.  

I still have massive respect for Chris Wilder. They do seem to get shit luck against us which is hilarious, but must be infuriating for him.  The red card is one that could be validly argued both ways.  It was a very light red or a very dark yellow. Perhaps an orange card? And the penalty save was fantastic.  One of the best I've seen. Wilder will think that's typical of what happens him against Villa.  I think Sheffield United just need to be careful of second season syndrome. I'm not suggesting they'll go down. I think their workrate and their defensive quality will be enough to stay up, but I wouldn't be surprised by a bottom 5 or 6 finish after last year's exploits.  They struggle to score goals and don't look like having fixed that.  That's 4 or 5 losses in a row for them now and that becomes a habit.