Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Fulham

[DeadlyDirk]

Just now, MaVilla said:

when was the last time we won 5 games in a row at home? (in the PL/top league - not champ).

They said on BT sport.. 1993!

[Raymond]

Fine to never see that second half again, but a win is a win. 

[VILLAMARV]

[Mr_Dogg]

1 minute ago, MaVilla said:

when was the last time we won 5 games in a row at home? (in the PL/top league - not champ).

1993

[osmark86]

Just now, DeadlyDirk said:

They said on BT sport.. 1993!

1983*

Is what I heard at least. Said almost 40 years so checks out?

Edited April 25, 2023 by osmark86

[AVTuco]

We did just enough to win. Dominated and then just waited for the game to end. Second half was not enjoyable, I admit that. but I'm happy, very happy.

Mings awesome. McGinn very good too.

[Aston_Villan4]

3 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Poor game, we were bad Fulham were terrible

BT tried constantly to make it something that it wasn't, it wasn't edgy it wasn't close, Fulham had 1 shot off target all game, created nothing, they could still be playing this time tomorrow and not score, the villa PTSD is real but not sure why the match thread got so ants in the pantsy, was never in doubt

First half was solid. Really controlled the tempo of the match and didn’t let them get in it. Late first/second half we looked very tired. Hopefully a nice 5 days of rest will have them ready for Man U.

[Demitri_C]

Crap performance, dull game but who cares? 

Clean sheet 3 points and sitting in 5th UTV

Mings motm for me ans luiz good.

Buendia was awful

[Davkaus]

2 minutes ago, sne said:

3 points

10 games without a loss

20th straight game where we score. 

First time since 1983 where we win 5 straight home games without conceding.

54 points

5th in the table

 

This manager was wasted on this season, the stars aligned to bring him here when we needed him, but what a **** shame CL is out of reach despite the miracle he's worked.

[duke313]

Wasn’t pretty, but job done. Can’t play like that at the weekend.

[CarryOnVilla]

Just 1 point from our lockdown season total 

5 games left to play

The European push is still on

[ozvilla28]

Any of our Injuries due back on the  weekend  ?. Need to get some players back for tiring lads.

[Aston_Villan4]

Just now, VILLAMARV said:

Legend.

[El-Reacho]

It’ll be May on Monday and we’re in fifth. Unbelievable.

[stewiek2]

5 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Can post this now 

Not lost in 9

 

Ten. We've not lost in ten.

 

 

[Sulberto21]

Solid and easy. Fulham had one shot at goal. Easy work! Now for them bastards on Sunday. Kin hate em. 

[BOF]

The new Villa. Bend don't break. Win when you're not playing well. We gifted Fulham a 2nd half there. Job done. We move on. There'll be tougher days. Let's enjoy 5th for now

[MaVilla]

1 minute ago, stewiek2 said:

Ten. We've not lost in ten.

 

 

and 8 of them were wins.

madness.

[MrBlack]

As bad as the match was, Fulham are more to blame than we are.  They were losing and did nothing to try and score. 

They're brief moment of sustained possession in the second half didn't result in a shot on target. They couldn't break us down without being miles offside.

We could have showed more adventure and pushed to improve our goal difference, but when the team you're playing is playing like the ones defending a lead even when they're losing it's going to be difficult. 

Not great got the fans at the game, but can't argue with a win. Vitally important to get 3 points after a disappointing game last time out.

Can't imagine anyone will be feeling tired from that game so sets us up well for United at the weekend. Let's hope none of those knocks are serious. 

[TomC]

A match of two halves...and once again, we won despite not playing our best. 5th place is nice, eh?

The first half was pretty typical Unai football. With all our possession, we should have scored more than one. We just had trouble with the final ball and finishing.

I think that a lot went wrong second half. To dominate possession, you have to hold the ball and to win it back when you lose it. We did neither. Doug and Donk looked a lot less effective winning the ball; they and Moreno looked tired. (Some fatigue is to be expected with matches 3 days apart.) Credit also to Fulham for disrupting our usual patterns in the second half. When we did win the ball, you would think that we would try to play safe passes for a while to give the defence a rest, but Doug, Watkins, and Buendia were all guilty of giving the ball away cheaply and going for glory when they should have been considering the game situation.

MOTM was McGinn, who battled all night. While I like his normal wide-ish/advanced midfield role, tonight I would have moved him back in the double pivot in the second half when Doug and Donk faded; we could have used his grit in the centre of the park. I would have then put Traore on for one of Doug or (more likely) Donk. And, while I'm rarely critical of Unai, I would have made the subs a lot sooner.

EDIT: Forgot to mention...I was never really worried about Fulham scoring; they were toothless despite their second half possession. I was worried only about us making a mistake. We didn't. That's why we win when we're not playing well.

Edited April 25, 2023 by TomC