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Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann makes most of lucky break to beat Stoke Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann makes most of lucky break to beat Stoke
(35 minutes later)
Sod’s law comes into it but Aston Villa’s resolve and organisation warrant a mention as well. The team with the leakiest defence in the Premier League over the past two seasons, previously without an away win since 1 January, the club up for sale, against the Midlands’ most upwardly mobile team, who had done the double over Villa last season and finished last season with a flourish and in ninth place. But this is football, so Stoke City succumbed to Andreas Weimann’s goal early in the second half, as Ron Vlaar marshalled Villa’s superb defensive performance. Sod’s law comes into it but Aston Villa’s resolve and organisation warrant a mention as well. This was the team with the leakiest defence in the Premier League over the past two seasons, previously without an away win since 1 January, the club up for sale, against the Midlands’ most upwardly mobile team, who had done the double over Villa last season and finished with a flourish in ninth place.
Even before the rock that is Carlos Sanchez, their £4.5million new Colombian defensive midfielder, joins the fray, Stoke foundered against Concrete Ron and his comrades as Paul Lambert drilled his defensive unit superbly. But this is football, so Stoke City succumbed to Andreas Weimann’s goal early in the second half, as Ron Vlaar marshalled Villa’s superb defensive performance.
Stoke fans arrived at fortress Britannia with optimism to shield them from the cold winds. Mark Hughes’ first season was as positive as could have been imagined and, on the back of the club’s highest finish since 1975, the addition of Bojan Krkic from Barcelona has been among the most eye-catching of the summer’s signings. The idea of the erstwhile ‘next Lionel Messi’ pitching up in the Potteries still takes some getting used to. He buzzed and weaved early on, starting on the attacking right hand of a 4-2-3-1 formation but flitting about where the fancy took him, interchanging positions with Stephen Ireland and Marko Arnautovic, and he came close to opening the scoring when cutting inside from the left-hand side to drill a shot into the side netting. Even before the rock that is Carlos Sánchez, Villa’s new £4.5m Colombian defensive midfielder, joins the fray, Stoke foundered against Concrete Ron and his comrades as Paul Lambert drilled his defensive unit superbly.
Many neutrals have been tipping Villa to face another battle against relegation, especially since Randy Lerner’s decision to put the club up for sale at the start of the summer has been met with so little tangible progress, but they defended with resolve and organisation, [at least in the first half]. Ashley Westwood was booked for a crunching late tackle on Steven N’Zonzi, hardly a fair fight for the Villa man, and Roy Keane, the new assistant manager, and Paul Lambert have evidently worked well with the back unit. Stoke fans arrived at fortress Britannia with optimism to shield them from the cold winds. Mark Hughes’ first season was as positive as could have been imagined and, on the back of the club’s highest finish since 1975, the addition of Bojan Krkic from Barcelona has been among the most eye-catching of the summer’s signings. The idea of the erstwhile “next Lionel Messi” pitching up in the Potteries still takes some getting used to.
Ron Vlaar enjoyed an excellent World Cup and, even if he looked a little rusty after a truncated summer holiday, the Dutchman could rely upon experience and knowhow around him in Philippe Senderos, Alan Hutton and Aly Cissokho. This was the first start under Lambert for the latter three but, succeeding the callow youths who have helped Villa ship more goals over the past two seasons than any other Premier League ever-present, they looked good value for the clean sheet they kept in the first half. He buzzed and weaved early on, starting on the attacking right hand of a 4‑2‑3-1 formation but flitting about where the fancy took him, interchanging positions with Stephen Ireland and Marko Arnautovic, and he came close to opening the scoring when cutting inside to drill a shot into the side netting.
Many neutrals have been tipping Villa to face another battle against relegation, especially since Randy Lerner’s decision to put the club up for sale at the start of the summer has been met with so little tangible progress, but they defended with resolve and organisation.
Ashley Westwood was booked for a crunching late tackle on Steven N’Zonzi, hardly a fair fight for the Villa man, and Roy Keane, the new assistant manager, and Paul Lambert have evidently worked well with the back unit.
Vlaar enjoyed an excellent World Cup and, even if he looked a little rusty after a truncated summer holiday, the Dutchman could rely upon experience and knowhow around him in Philippe Senderos, Alan Hutton and Aly Cissokho.
This was the first start under Lambert for the latter three but, succeeding the callow youths who have helped Villa ship all those goals in the past two seasons, they looked good value for the clean sheet they kept in the first half.
Such a solid foundation gave Villa confidence going forward and Gabby Agbonlahor, preferred to Darren Bent in attack, might have scored in the 25th minute had he turned in a sharp cross to an empty net after Kieran Richardson, one of three new starters for the visitors, had nipped in between Asmir Begovic and Marc Wilson chasing Hutton’s pass to cross.Such a solid foundation gave Villa confidence going forward and Gabby Agbonlahor, preferred to Darren Bent in attack, might have scored in the 25th minute had he turned in a sharp cross to an empty net after Kieran Richardson, one of three new starters for the visitors, had nipped in between Asmir Begovic and Marc Wilson chasing Hutton’s pass to cross.
Villa fans cheered their team off raucously at half-time, scenting a potential upturn in fortunes, and their volume increased another notch five minutes after the restart when Andi Weimann gave them the lead. There was a fine build-up through midfield before the ball was played to Charles N’Zogbia another of Villa’s long-forgotten returnees, who turned superbly on the edge of the penalty area only for Glenn Whelan to scoop the ball off his toes. Inadvertently, however, the Stoke anchorman passed the ball out to Weimann, wide on the right of the Stoke box. The Austrian’s first touch was poor but he responded in the best fashion by winning the ricochet off Wilson and thrashing his shot across goal and into the far corner of the net. Villa fans cheered their team off raucously at half-time, scenting a potential upturn in fortunes, and their volume increased another notch five minutes after the restart when Weimann gave them the lead. There was a fine build-up through midfield before the ball was played to Charles N’Zogbia another of Villa’s long-forgotten returnees, who turned superbly on the edge of the penalty area only for Glenn Whelan to scoop the ball off his toes. Inadvertently, however, the Stoke anchorman passed the ball out to Weimann, wide on the right of the Stoke box. The Austrian’s first touch was poor but he responded in the best fashion by winning the ricochet off Wilson and thrashing his shot across goal and into the far corner of the net.