football rambles

 Well, I have been to a lot of poor games this season including the Solihull Moors one the day before. However, this one was a classic and one that will live in the memories of both sets of fans, but probably longer in Villa fans'.  The game got off to a blistering start when John McGinn found Ollie Watkins in space and crossed the ball for him to head home with only two minutes on the clock. However, if Villa thought it was going to be a rout, they were to be mistaken as Chris Rigg scored on 9 minutes to make it 1-1. For the next period of time Sunderland looked the better of the two teams, but with just under 10 minutes left in the half Ian Maatsen found Ollie Watkins in space for him to head home and put Villa in the lead. Finally, Villa really had the bit between their teeth and looked to increase their advantage before halftime. the second half started as the first half had finished and with the half only 2 minutes old, a lovely placed shot saw Morgan Rogers put Villa 3-1...

 A couple of months ago this would probably have been considered an easy win for Villa, but since then Leeds have improved and Villa after suffering injuries to the midfield 3 of McGinn, Kamara and Tielemans have suffered some poor results including 3 home defeats at the usually impenetrable Villa Park. Villa are still in third but Leeds after a poor start to the season have really started to improve. The first half was a bit of  a battle in the middle of the park with both sides lacking a cutting edge, although Leeds' forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin seemed to have more about him than Watkins when chances were created. It was Leeds who opened the scoring when Watkins fouled a Leeds player and  Anton Stach fired home to put the visitors in the lead. It was a great free kick, but there need to be some questions asked about Martinez's positioning for it and what Watkins was doing back there giving a gree kick away in that position. The second half saw an onslaught from Aston V...

 This game saw John McGinn make his 300th appearance for Aston Villa and like most other people (although I would never admit it) saw this as an easy win for Villa. After a poor start to the season, Villa have been in some incredible form and we're up to 4th. Wolves on the other hand were routed to the bottom of the table on a measly 2 points. It therefore came as no surprise that wolves main tactic was to defend in numbers and try and hit Villa on the break. At times this looked like it might work, as Wolves forced a few good saves from Emi Martinez. However, not to detract from Martinez's efforts, a number of these efforts were given offside, and fortunately one that beat him was to. I think that if we were still in the era where linesmen put their flag up straight away, a number of people wouldn't have convinced themselves that Wolves were in this game as much as they might have thought. Villa had most of the play and most of the shots, but as we have seen of late, the p...

 First in the bank holiday of football was Aston Villa v Fulham on Saturday. It really was a must win game and felt a bit odd with it being a lunchtime kickoff. The game was decided by a Youri Tielemans header from a John Mc Ginn corner in the 12th minute. In truth Villa dominated the first half and Ollie Watkins was a bit wasteful in front of goal, but at least he was getting in the right positions. Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen were good at getting forward on the wings and the midfield battle was being won by McGinn and Tielemans. At halftime, you kind of wondered if Villa would regret not making more of their chances. The second half saw Fulham attacking with more intent, but Villa were more troubled by their own style of defending than the opposition, however it was a bit nerve wracking at times. That said, the best opportunities of this half went to Villa. Watkins should have converted a chance that Rogers set up for him; Torres missed a golden opportunity that a more attacking m...

 A good weekend was had in Brum, but this was a very frustrating result and one that doesn't help with Villa getting into Europe again next season. Villa had 25 shots on target and ended the game with a forward line of Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. You would really have hoped they would have put more than one chance into the goal. 76% possession and the fact Ipswich had Axel Tuanzebe sent off before half time meant Villa probably should have done more. However, Alex Palmer in the Ipswich goal turned into prime Lev Yashin and we couldn't break them down. In fact it was Ipswich who opened the scoring from Liam Delap on a rare flurry into the Villa box and Martinez was caught at the near post to give the Tractor Boys the lead on 56 minutes. Villa got back into it on 69 minutes when a thunderous freekick from Rashford hit the bar and Watkins scored the rebound, but although Villa and in particular Rashford and Asensio created some good chances, Ipswich were reso...

 We finally made it to a Villa game on Saturday and unfortunately the indifferent run of form continued with a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.  Villa looked a little bereft of fresh ideas and without Konsa in central defence and both Kamara and Onana out in defensive midfield there was little protection when Palace stuck to their plan of hitting Villa on the break. It took Palace only 4 minutes to take the lead when Ismailla Sarr did exactly that and hit Villa on the break. Villa pressed to get the equaliser and after a few decent saves from Henderson, Ollie Watkins managed to go round the keeper in  the 37th minute to get the equaliser. It felt like they weren't done and were going to take the lead in any minute. Bailey was judged to have been fouled at the end of the half and Villa were awarded a penalty. Tielemans stepped up to take it, but it was soft and Henderson made the save. To Villa's dismay they cleared after the ensuing corner and again hit Villa on the break...

  Superb performances from Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn gave Villa victory that was made even sweeter as Man United lost ground on Villa. Luiz was on a mission, Bailey couldn't be stopped, Watkins was always finding the right position and McGinn was all over the pitch fighting for possession.  Villa found the back of the net after just 4 minutes when Bailey's trickery left the Forest defence wheeling and Watkins peeled off the final defender to shoot home in front of the Holte End to give Villa an early lead. From this point on Forest looked in disarray. The second goal came after 29 minutes and again came from an attack down Forest's left-hand side. Cash this time went through the defence before finding Ramsey who then set up Douglas Luiz for his second. Villa weren't done though and 2 soon became 3 when yet another attack down that side saw McGinn cross the ball for Luiz to head home his second and give Villa a three goal cushion before 40 ...