West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Southampton. Match report February 28 2014

 

Saido Berahino’s second minute goal was enough to see off a blunt Southampton and send West Bromwich Albion eight points clear of the relegation zone.

With just 72 seconds on the clock, a free kick from the left by Chris Brunt was headed into the box by Craig Dawson  and the England striker finished smartly from 18 yards with his left foot. The early goal spurred the Baggies to arguably their best performance of the season so far.

Baggies boss Tony Pulis was full of praise for his young in-form forward: “It was a wonderful strike, there’s no questioning his (Berahino’s) talent... he works so hard... he’s the icing on the cake, the bit of quality every team is looking for.”

And all of this despite Berahino having spent the week on the sidelines and requiring an injection before the game. Unfortunately, he only lasted 10 minutes of the second half before being substituted.

Southampton decided to play with three central defenders but that system was unpicked immediately with the early goal from West Brom which forced them to revert to a traditional centre back pairing in manager Ronald Koeman’s attempts to get back into the game. But their best opportunities were blazed over the crossbar by Sadio Mane and Morgan Schneiderlin.

The second half followed the same course as the first. Saints’ best chance fell to out of form striker Graziano Pelle. A cross from the left hand side eluded Baggies ‘keeper Ben Foster and from two yards, with an open goal at his mercy, the Italian managed to miss the ball completely and a deflection from an unaware Chris Brunt took it closer than Pelle’s effort.

For every attack the Saint’s threw at them, West Brom resisted and held their own brilliantly in what can only be classed as a Tony Pulis masterclass with solid performances from Darren Fletcher, James Morrison and Craig Dawson. The man with the Midas touch has helped West Brom to six clean sheets in his 10 games in control.

The result means that high flying Southampton haven’t scored in their previous three matches and see their attempts of a top four finish, slowly slipping away. After the match boss Koeman said the best team won.

“West Brom were tough to break down. We had one or two chances to score but they deserved to win,” he said.

“The total performance of the team in quality is a little bit low from the beginning of the season but we have to go and believe in the next win. Next Tuesday against Crystal Palace we have to win, as we need those points.”

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Stoke City. Match report Saturday February 21 2015

Tim Sherwood's first game as manager of Aston Villa ended in a disappointing defeat thanks to an injury time spot kick winner by Victor Moses. 

The 46 year old’s arrival sent an air of optimism around Villa Park and all looked good for 44 and a half minutes when Sherwood and the 31,000 fans  were sent crashing down to earth as Stoke striker Mame Biram Diouf powered a Stephen Ireland cross into the net to equalise a 19^th minute goal from Scott Sinclair.  

A distraught Sherwood made no effort to defend his side's sorry performance after the game saying "the performance wasn't great" and he realised the extent of the task in front of him with "it's going to be a work in progress and a lot of work needs to be done... It's going to be about putting the right jigsaw together". 

Villa started the game well and dominated midfield with fine interplay between Carlos Sanchez, Carles Gill and Fabien Delph. A 19^th minute corner seemed to have gone over everyone to safety but the England midfielder chased the ball on the left and fired in a pinpoint cross which was flicked in by on-loan striker Sinclair. Cue mass hysteria as Villa fans celebrated a new era. 

Minutes later Sinclair almost added a second when he powered through the centre of the Stoke defence only to be thwarted as he went to pull the trigger. 

All looked well until 20 seconds before half time when Villa failed to deal with a throw-in on the right corner where Jonathan Walters fed former Villa midfielder Ireland who fired in a pinpoint cross which Diouf headed home.

The goal certainly changed the game as Stoke dominated the second half leaving the Villa players chasing shadows. Stoke manager Mark Hughes changed the tactics around perfectly, allowing their opponent’s little in terms of attacking impetus.

 

The physical affair resulted in injuries to Villa’s Kieran Richardson while Potters defender Erik Pieters limped off but the most unorthodox injury was referee Roger East who, while trying to keep up with the pace of the game went down with cramp in his calf which was greeted by sarcastic jeers from both sets of fans. Fourth official Tony Harrington warmed up but was not needed. 

The longer the game went on, the more obvious it was that Sherwood and his players would settle for a point but all that changed in the third minute of time added on. Potters’ flying winger Moses burst into the left hand side of the penalty area and was brought down by Villa captain Ron Vlaar who, having been booked a few minutes before, was given his marching orders. The Nigerian stepped up and coolly converted the penalty to ensure his side went home with all three points.  

After the game Mark Hughes described Stoke’s display as ‘... an excellent away performance’. 

“We needed to bounce back after last week’s disappointment against Blackburn and we did that. In the second half we were the better team and we got the rewards in the end.” He said. “We are delighted with the three points and it is a great reaction after the last two results.” 

New boss Tim Sherwood could not hide his disappointment at the defeat. “I am bitterly disappointed for everyone at this football club,“ he said. “We started well and got the goal but switched off before half time and I did think the match would peter out to be a draw but it wasn’t to be. It was a cruel way to lose the game. I am devastated, No-one feels as down as I am.” 

When asked what was needed to turn things round Sherwood added. “We have to try and affect games. We have the quality in the squad but it’s just a matter of putting the right jigsaw together to win the games.”

 

Tim Sherwood: Villa fans speak

Before the Villa v Stoke clash, I went out to ask Villa fans their thoughts on the new manager and their predictions for the result.

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea match report Saturday 7th February 2015

Aston Villa finally managed to find the back of the net after almost 11 hours but failed to grab the points as Jose Mourinho earned his first win at Villa Park.

Jonas Okore scored his first goal for the Villans to end a drought stretching back to December last year but the delight from the goal-starved Villa fans was short-lived as  Branislav Ivanovic scored his fifth goal in six matches at the stadium to win the game for Mourinho's side.

Aston Villa were bolstered by last season's heroic 1-0 victory over Chelsea but any hopes of a repeat result were swept away in the seventh minute when Oscar burst down the right and found fellow countryman Willian on the right hand side of the box. He slipped the ball into the area where it was poked home from close range by the Eden Hazard.

Villa, who dropped main striker Christian Benteke after a string of poor performances, looked lively through Gabby Agbonlahor who had his team's best chance of the first half when he met a cross from the left but could only head over from six yards.

Paul Lambert's half time talk certainly worked as the Villa players came out for the second half a completely different team and immediately took the game to the Londoners .  Two minutes in and more than 35,000 home fans were finally rewarded for their patience after some lovely trickery by Carles Gill produced a cross from the right hand side to the far post where Okore was there to head home completely unmarked. Ten hours and 59 minutes of famine and frustration for fans and players was finally over. 

Paul Lambert's men were so unused to scoring in a game that sadly they decided to sit back and allow Chelsea to  come onto them with the predictable result. Sixty-six minutes gone and Blues' left back Cesar Azpilicueta forced his way into the area and as Villa defenders failed to clear,  his cross was met by right back Ivanovic who powerfully struck home from 10 yards.

As time ticked away, Chelsea showed why they are Champions elect by shutting up shop. Mourinho sent on John Obi Mikel to sit deep and despite the introduction of Christian Benteke, Villa couldn’t find a way through the formidable blue line. With Manchester City managing only a point with Hull, Chelsea now sit seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.

After the game Jose Mourinho praised Villa who he said were a difficult team to beat.

"Aston Villa have very good players and it is difficult to prepare against them as they can change the way they play. We showed good ambition after they scored. We pushed hard and got  a very important victory."

However, the Blues manager was not yet ready to clear a space in the team's trophy cabinet for the Premiership crown. "Seven points is nothing when there are 42 points to play for," he said. "Everyone can take points off each other in this league. I take things step by step."

Villa boss Paul Lambert was full of praise for his team's performance and disappointed they did not get something from the game. "We did not deserve to lose. We had a good tempo in the game. We scored a great goal and I thought the performance was very good," he told the press. "We set a standard today and if we play like that in the coming weeks, we will pick up points."