Match Review 2011 - 2012

Norwich City's last minute equaliser last week against Blackburn would have given the squad confidence of getting a decent result away at Villa in the last game before the International break. Villa, who have made a solid if unspectacular start to the season with 6 draws out of 10 games, would be looking for a home win. Villa has dangerous players in the team even with the loss of Young and Downing they still have Bent,Agbonlahor,Heskey and the struggling N'zogbia to get goals. Paul Lambert made a surprising change to his formation changing from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 and bringing in Holt and dropping Fox.

Norwich started the game in positive fashion with Morison getting a shot blocked after only 2 minutes, Villa were straight back at the Canaries after good link up play involving Heskey and Bent but N'zogbia's shot was deflected for a corner. The game was very open with both teams looking to attack right away. Pilkington had a shot well saved by Given,he also kept Bennett out with another routine save. Norwich continued their bright start when Morison showed great skill to bring down a free kick from Johnson but his shot from the angle was comfortably saved. A clash of heads between N'zogbia and Johnson left the Norwich man looking very unsteady. A good start by the Canaries but Villa were just starting to get hold of the game and should have took the lead on 18 minutes Heskey won the header from a free kick from the right, Agbonlahor flicked it on leaving Bent one on one with the keeper, Ruddy was off his line in a flash and managed to block Bents effort, Bent took a touch just before striking it giving Ruddy a chance to save, he should've scored. Villa were slightly on top when Norwich took the lead, a foul on Holt by Hutton presented Norwich with a free kick 25 yards out, Pilkington stepped up and hit a stunning free kick in to the far right corner, Given took a slight step to his right which left him off balance and he couldn't get anywhere near Pilkingtons strike. Agbonlahor was starting to drift to the left from his advanced attacking position Norwich had a warning of what was to come, Agbonlahor skipped past Naughton and flashed a lovely ball across the face of the goal which predator Bent nearly tapped in. On 30 minutes Villa got their deserved equaliser, again Agbonlahor was too pacey for Naughton and his pin point cross along the face of goal was tapped in by Bent. In the build up to the goal Warnock did hand ball a Bennett clearance, it was unintentional but was blatant, the ref should have given Norwich a free kick but that doesn't change the fact it was great play by Agbonlahor. With 10 minutes to go before half time the injured Johnson was replaced by Crofts. Villa were on top now and looked like they were going to get the next goal but Norwich held out till the break.

Overall a good start by Norwich creating a few chances early on, Villa were starting to take control of the game just before Norwich took the lead, after that it was mostly Villa who were the better team and deserved their goal with Agbonlahor causing us all kind of problems down the left.

Bent thought he'd scored his second goal of the game 2 minutes into the second half but he strayed 2 yards offside before Huttons cross got to him. Seconds later Villa were 2-1 ahead, a terrible back pass from Barnett was latched on to by Agbonlahor, it looked like Ruddy might get there first but he kind of pulled out of the challenge(probably remembering the Chelsea game) the ball fell kindly to Agbonlahor who smashed it into an empty net,terrible start to the second half, Barnett had plenty of time to just smash the ball out of play and regroup, big error. Villa were really pushing on and Naughton did well to get in front of Heskey who would have surely made it 3-1. Villa were in control but Morison did manage to get a good angled shot off but Given got down well. Villa got the 3rd goal on 62 minutes, again Agbonlahor was the provider, Tierney made a good tackle on N'zogbia in the box the ball fell to Agbonlahor on the right Tierney tried to close him down but not well enough, he had too much time to pick out Bent in the 6 yard box who finished well with the outside of his right foot. Lambert made his first sub straight away replacing Bennett with Fox, Villa made their first change mid way through the second half giving Jenas his debut taking off Heskey. Agbonlahor caused problems down the left again but this time his cross was cut out by Martin as he collided with Ruddy. With 15 minutes to go Jackson came on for Hoolahan and Petrov came off for Ireland, just when it looked like Norwich were dead and buried Holt produced a wonderfull ball from the left that missed out all the Villa defenders and Given, giving Morison a tap in header from 2 yards out at the back stick. Hutton nearly made it 4-2 but his shot flashed across the face of goal. On the 87th minute the disappointing Nzogbia should have put Ireland theough on goal but his pass was poor. Norwich gave it all they had but there wasn't going to be a repeat of the Blackburn come back.

Overall, even though Villa were the better team and deserved the win we gave them the second goal, even the teams fighting spirit wasn't enough this week.

Aston Villa – Given; Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock; N’Zogbia, Petrov (Ireland, 76 min), Herd, Heskey (Jenas, 67 min); Bent, Agbonlahor.

 Subs (not used): Guzan, Clark, Cuellar, Delph, Albrighton.

Norwich City – Ruddy; Naughton, Barnett, Russell Martin, Tierney; Bradley Johnson (Crofts, 35 min); Bennett (Fox, 63 min), Pilkington; Hoolahan (Jackson, 76 min); Morison, Holt. 

Subs (not used): Rudd, De Laet, Surman, Wilbraham.

Referee – Kevin Friend.

Attendance – 35,290.

Goals – Villa: Bent (30 min, 62 min), Agbonlahor (48 min). City: Pilkington (25 min), Morison (77 min).

Bookings – Villa: N’Zogbia (34 min). City: Hoolahan (33 min), Crofts (45 min), Barnett (45 min), Pilkington (75 min), Holt (90 min).

Scored 2 goals away from home, Pilkington was a real collectors item.

Even though Villa were the better team we were still in it even till the last kick of the game.

Villa are a good team and it was only a few excellent performances by their forwads  that made the difference.

Agbonlahor gave us a torrid time down the left,you could see goals coming if he wasn't sorted out, too quick and direct for us to deal with.

Barnett knows he should've just smashed it into the stands,the timing really knocked the wind out of us.

Wes looked lost at times in Centre midfield,gave the ball away more times in the game than he has all season.

Not kept a clean sheet all season and the amount of goals we are conceding just recently is a worry.

Even though Morison scored Holt and Morison didn't really cause Villa's experienced 2, Dunne and Collins, many problems.

Pilkington

Agbonlahor

Match Report by Darren Huckerby