I don’t think any of us expected anything from this match, but the Villa Park faithful witnessed a miracle rather than a drubbing, as somehow, incredibly Aston Villa came back twice to stun Manchester City 3-2, recording a famous victory to avoid their worst start at home since 1946.
I really don’t know how to describe it. A patented O’Neill smash-and-grab? I don’t care. On 76 minutes, Guzan went long yet again, this time the ball falling past Libor Kozak and between the center backs to Andreas Weimann, who slipped it past Joe Hart as he had unwisely come out when he was never going to get it, and the ball rolled right on into the net without another touch for an incredible 3-2 lead as City looked on in despair.
And somehow Villa held on even through five excruciating minutes of added time.
Villa certainly didn’t distinguish themselves in the first half, showing City far too much respect and time to do what they liked. Guzan was called into action early denying Dzeko at the near post. And while City were having their way in the middle of the park, it was mainly a succession of corners that posed the biggest threat, and the sense of inevitably that Villa would concede was realized when on the ninth corner of the half, an attempted headed clearance fell to Yaya Toure in the middle of the box, and he one-timed it through Guzan straight down the middle in the 44th minute to put City ahead.
Earlier, a deflected shot from Toure had just barely gone wide, and a clearance off the line had kept Villa on even terms.
As I’ve said before, pressure and intensity are key to Villa, and while there were some fleeting flashes, there wasn’t nearly enough to put City off their stride. Toure’s deflected shot was abetted by a failure to close him down outside the box, for example.
At the same time, City’s defense anticipated attempted through-balls with ease, and Villa players were receiving the sort of attention they should’ve been handing out. Kozak and Weimann were relegated to virtual spectator status.
While Lambert started out with a back three of Vlaar, Baker, and Clark, it became a back five with Bacuna and Luna forced back for much of the half. Errant passes, poor close control…You sensed a Villa side lacking confidence. It was frustrating viewing at best, and Lambert would not have been happy.
While City came out and dominated the proceedings to start the second, in the 50th minute Bacuna played through El Ahmadi, who was likely offside, but he calmly slotted across goal past Hart into the far corner, and Villa were back on level terms 1-1.
The sense of hope was short lived, as City came back and scored off a second consecutive corner in the 56th minute, Dzeko getting in at the near post to redirect it across the goal and past Guzan, putting City back on top 2-1.
Then out of nowhere in the 73rd minute, Weimann was fouled on the edge of the box, and Bacuna stepped up to strike a beauty past Joe Hart and improbably pull Villa back again, 2-2.
Then it was Weimann just three minutes later who made all the difference, and Villa found their second top-four scalp in the first six games.
It wasn’t a thing of beauty by any means. But it hardly matters. The tactics, which looked poor, turned out to work. Villa sat back, let City play, stayed organized enough, got a little luck, found some vital interventions from Ron Vlaar, and somewhere, somehow, Villa found more resilience and heart than City, took all three points, and left Pellegrini wondering what this league is all about.
It’s a funny old game.
Well done the lads.
UTV
If you fancy your odds betting on the next game at Hull, we found www.thebookiesoffers.co.uk – a great site for free bets and betting offers.
The Author
