In the glorious Saturday sunshine, it was Gabriel Agbonlahor who was the star of the show, via a man of the match performance from the Birmingham born and bred player, finishing the game with a goal as well as providing an assist for Darren Bent.
In taking all three points, Villa managed to secure their fourth ever unbeaten seven game run since the inception of the Premier League. If some were calling for changes to the team by the manager, then today illustrated that maybe Villa weren’t as one dimensional or defensive as some may have suggested.
For the fans, it was a delight to see Agbonlahor and Bent celebrating together on the scoring of the second goal following rumours of a less than amicable dressing room relationship.
Agbonlahor wasn’t the only player shining in the sunshine, with young Barry Bannan further stating his credentials as a first team regular following his Player Of The Month accolade.
In fact, there was something different about the team that may have allayed some of the fears amongst fans that Villa were heading for more drawing drudgery. Here was three points, albeit against a poor Wigan side, but three points nonetheless. The future may be looking a little brighter after all.
On Wigan’s side, it was Ali Al-Habsi who was forced to provide a fantastic performance to prevent Villa from utterly destroying the Latics, with a series of fine saves to ensure the scoreline remained lower than it could have been.
Gabriel Agbonlahor took his season total to four with his goal in the 36th minute and, in providing an assist also, proved that he may be able to do what many players have failed to do in the past – forge a true partnership with Darren Bent.
Darren Bent also showed signs that his fitness and form may be returning with a solid display capped off by a well taken goal in the 62nd minute from Agbonlahor’s cross.
So the next, perhaps most important question is this – what did you make of it?
*** Full player statistics/ratings to follow tomorrow ***
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