Aston Villa 0-1 Swansea City match report Saturday 21st March 2015

Bafetimbi Gomis hit home a late goal to end Aston Villa's recent run of good form.

After having two earlier efforts thwarted, the Frenchman fired home from 10 yards out with three minutes left to earn a win which moves the Swans into eighth in the Premier League.

His manager Garry Monk was full of praise for Gomis post match saying: “From his last performance there is no stopping him. He persevered and kept pushing and got his goal. It’s crucial for any player, that perseverance to keep going.”

As for Aston Villa, it was back down to earth with a bump. After successive wins against rivals West Brom, and hitting four past Sunderland last week, the Clarets had a reality check against an organised and well drilled Swansea team and remain three points above the relegation zone. Boss Tim Sherwood was disappointed to see his side lose late in a game for the second time in recent weeks. He said: “It was disappointing to lose in the Stoke game and it happened again today. I think we deserved a point. I thought in the second period we were more likely to score.”

After the recent run of good form, Villa Park was almost full of expectant fans but they left disappointed after Villa failed to break through a well organised Swansea midfield and back four marshalled by Ashley Williams and Frederico Fernandez. It took until the 31st minute for a Villa  player to even register a shot on target with England international Fabian Delph's left wing shot saved easily by Lukas Fabianski in the Swansea goal.

At the other end of the pitch, Gomis spurned two opportunities in the first half, thwarted by ‘keeper Brad Guzan while Villa defender Ciaran Clark blocked a goal-bound shot from Swans' winger Wayne Routledge.

The second half followed the same path as the first with Swansea’s neat passing game helping Garry Monk's side to dominate possession for large parts of the game but they couldn’t breach the Villa back four.  

With 63 minutes gone, Monk threw on Jefferson Montero and the injection of pace was the difference between the two teams. On 87 minutes. Wayne Routledge fed the ball down the left and Montero played an inch perfect first time ball into the area where Gomis got in front of Ciaran Clark and fired home.

Villa fans packed into in to the Holte End thought their team had equalised a minute later when Fabien Delph surged forward down the left and hit a superb pass to the right hand side of the Swansea goal where former Swans player Scott Sinclair looked odds-on to score but his powerful shot flew inches over. 

Villa boss Sherwood admitted his team were still in the relegation dogfight but welcomed the two week international break as a chance to get his injured players back fit.

"Every point is vital and we have to pick up as many as we can to make ourselves safe," he said.

West Bromwich Albion1-0 Stoke City match report Saturday 14th March 2015

Tony Pulis was full of praise for his old club Stoke City but it was he who had the last laugh in the Midlands Derby.

His West Brom team earned a gritty 1-0 defeat over a below par Potters team thanks to a 20^th minute header by Baggies striker Brown Ideye. Post match he said: “I had a great 10 years at Stoke, it was a wonderful journey but today it was about West Bromwich Albion and we played really well.”

After back to back defeats to local rivals Aston Villa, the Baggies needed three points to get back on track but rarely beat Stoke, who won the last five meetings at The Hawthorns.

The game lacked imagination for much of the 90 minutes. The flicker of inspiration came with 20 minutes on the clock. A cross from the right hand side by Craig Gardner was headed in by Ideye, on target for the fourth time this season.

Arguably the biggest talking point of the first half was Saido Berahino’s goal which was disallowed. A through ball by James Morrison took a deflection off a Stoke defender and found its way to Berahino in an offside position. However the ball was spilled back into play by Stoke ‘keeper Asmir Begovic straight into the path of Berahino who rolled the ball into an empty net. The referee’s assistant ruled the goal out sparking furious protests from Tony Pulis and head scratching from thousands in the ground. “They make the rules up as they go along,” was the Baggies boss’s view after the game.

Sadly even a flare let off by the away fans couldn’t light up an otherwise dull first half and the second half did not offer much more with James Morrison coming closest for West Brom with a fierce volley which was tipped over by Begovic.

With 10 minutes left, goalscorer Ideye took a knock to the knee and with Albion so limited in the striking department, centre back Jonas Olsson was thrown on to fill the void, adding a touch of humour in the process.

Despite this Albion hung on to earn a victory which takes them 11 points clear of the relegation zone.

As for the Potters, their three game winning streak came to an end with manager Mark Hughes making no bones about the poor performance. “We didn’t play particularly well today,” said the Welshman. “We spoke at length about not conceding the first goal; unfortunately that’s what happened. In the first half we didn’t ask any questions of West Brom... in the end they were able to defend quite comfortably.”