Villa throw it away
Aston Villa 1 West Ham United 1
Martin O’Neill must be wondering what his side need to do to win a football match after a late Diego Tristan goal denied his side victory in a thrilling open game at Villa Park.
Villa began the game making two changes from the side that drew 3-3 against Everton last weekend. Carlos Cuellar returned from injury to partner Curtis Davies with Zat Knight dropping to the bench and Emile Heskey returned to partner John Carew in Villa’s attack.
Referee Rob Styles decided that there was a clash of kit colours before kick off and Villa were forced to change to an all white kit with no players names appearing on the back of the shirts. West Ham started the match brighter and Villa’s defensive problems which have haunted them in recent weeks looked all too apparent. In the first minute Junior Stanislas was played onside by Luke Young and he carved through the Villa defence with ease before Friedel pushed his shot behind for a a corner. On six minutes, Stanislas was almost through on goal again but Milner recovered well to clear the danger.
After good and pretty initial play from the Hammers, Villa began to settle. After ten minutes, James Milner’s low ball into the box was met by Emile Heskey who put the ball into the net. It was only Heskey’s second goal for Villa since his arrival from Wigan in January.
David Di Michele had a shot well saved by Friedel on 13 minutes and James Tomkinds shot over the bar from close range as Villa’s central defensive partnership of Davies and Cuellar fell asleep again.
Green turned Milner’s shot behind for a corner on 15 minutes and Carew headed over the bar from the Barry corner. Carew was again involved in the action a few minutes later. He shielded the ball well, Barry took it off his feet and delivered a deep cross into the area which Heskey narrowly missed. Milner finally got a shot in after panic by the West Ham defence but his effort was well over the bar. Villa were looking bright coming forward and Cuellar was close to connecting to a brilliant probing corner from Ashley Young.
Ashley Young came close to doubling the lead for Villa on 21 minutes. His free kick hit the wall and from the second attempt his effort went skimming past the post. A great ball from Barry almost found Heskey clear a few minutes later and Robert Green had to be calm when clearing the ball ahead of John Carew.
Villa were now starting to control the game and were desperately unlucky not to be two goals in front after 26 minutes. A terrible back pass from Mark Noble was intercepted by Emile Heskey but the big man was stretching slightly and his effort bounced off the post.
West Ham should’ve done better on 31 minutes when Di Michele and Noble caused more panic and uncertainty in the Villa defence. A few minutes later youngser Junior Stanislas hit a good effort just over the bar for zola’s men as they looked to draw level.
As the game opened up, Petrov and Barry began to win the midfield battle and Petrov went close on 40 minutes when he ran at the Hammers defence and shot just wide of goal.
Villa boss Martin O’Neill must have called for ‘more of the same’ at half time and Villa dominated much of the second half. Just after the interval, Villa fans called for a penalty after Carew challenged with Upson in the area. Replays showed that both men had handled the ball and that the ref was right to give the free kick to West Ham.
Villa had a good chance to double their lead on 46 minutes when Carew brilliantly fed Heskey in the area with a neat chip but the ball didn’t come down quick enough for the big England striker and the resulting effort was easily dealt with.
Heskey and Carew both came close to connecting with good balls into the area by Barry and Young but the second goal wasn’t forthcoming. Petrov was perhaps lucky to just receive a yellow card for a terrible late challenge on Noble which drew an angry reaction from the West Ham defender.
Carew came close twice within a few minutes as Villa desperately tried to kill the game off. A Luke Young ball into the box caught him by surprise and he fumbled his effort and a minute later he came close to connecting with an excellent ball from Heskey.
Heskey began to tire and was replaced on 70 minutes by youngster Nathan Delfouneso. West Ham also made a change replacing Junior Stanislas with Savio and almost immediately the substitute had a good chance to level the score but his poor effort fell well wide.
Villa should’ve snatched all three points in the 77th minute when an excellent ball from Ashley Young into the box fell to Carew who from point blank range headed high over the bar. It was a bad miss from the big Villa striker who only needed the lightest of touches to put the ball beyond Green.
West Ham snatched a dramatic point in the 84th minute when Diego Tristan reacted to Kieron Dyer’s wayward effort to put the ball past Friedel and into the net. Villa were now panicking and Friedel made a complete mess of things a few minutes later and almost gifted a second goal to West Ham when under pressure from Boa Morte. Noble and Savio both had late shots for West Ham but the match finally ended a draw.
The boo’s rang out at the final whistle from the Villa faithful who haven’t seen a victory in 11 attempts and O’Neill cut a frustrated figure as he walked to the dressing room with his head bowed low.
Ratings:
Brad Friedel - 7 - one late panicky moment aside, the villa keeper did much better this afternoon and made several good saves in the match
Luke Young - 7 - Defensively he was all over the place again but I give him a 7 because in attacking situations he did very well all afternoon and looked far more comfortable on the ball than I’ve seen in a while.
Nicky Shorey - 8 - I thought this was one of his best games in a villa shirt today. Looked more confident in posession and delivered two or three quality balls into the area.
Curtis Davies - 4 - Another miserable afternoon for him. Looked shaky, lacked composure, isn’t forging any sort of partnership with either Cuellar or Knight. I’ve said it before but he hasn’t been the same since his shoulder injury.
Carlos Cuellar - 5 - One or two timely clearances but lacks pace and shows similar poor awareness to Davies. Positionally awful when teams attack with movement.
Stilyan Petrov - 7 - Controlled the midfield at times with elegance. Very poor challenge on Noble spoilt his performance though and he was lucky to still be on the pitch.
Gareth Barry - (man of the match) 8 - Classy display from a player I’ve attacked at times in recent weeks. Very comfortable on the ball, probed well and delivered some quality passes.
Emile Heskey - 7 - Much better performance from the big man and his partnership with Carew was the highlight of Villa’s performance today. Took his goal well, was unlucky not to score a second and his link up play was impressive.
John Carew - 8 - Bullied Upson all afternoon and perhaps deserved a goal for his performance. Held the ball up so well and was involved with most attacking moves Villa created but did have one really clear cut chance which he should’ve buried.
James Milner - 7 - I’ve seen him play better but this was much more like it. Created the goal for Heskey and worked hard throughout.
Ashley Young - 7 - Another silly booking. Had an interesting battle with Lucas Neill all afternoon. Showed some real quality at times but his head seemed to drop on occasions. Needs a goal badly.
