Villa win at Leeds, Dave Woodhall is happy.
Every time. Every single time. We should be used to it by now – events conspire to give Villa the chance to make their mark and we blow it magnificently. Sunday afternoon was a case in point; the weekend’s results went our way, we could go fourth and we were playing a team in the relegation zone. But no, the Villa manage yet again to cock it up.
Well, they would have done, but this is not just Villa. This is Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. The weather wasn’t too clever but Villa had as strong a team as we could have hoped for, given that Tyrone Mings probably wouldn’t have played even if he was fit and Amadou Onana was due an injury.
And so the match started, and it seemed to be going to the traditional plan. Leeds were sharper, Villa were hesitant and after eight minutes a cross from a player that looked offside, a challenge on Emiliano Martinez that looked like a foul and despite a lengthy VAR check we were a goal down.
Looking at it objectively Martinez might have been stronger in challenging for the ball and punching clear would have been a better option, but Unai’s fondness for possession might have meant he wanted it caught. Whatever the reason, Martinez did well to make a good save later on in the half although keepers are remembered for the goals they cause rather that the ones they save, whereas a striker can miss a string of chances then become a hero when they score one.
An Ollie Watkins shot that went just wide in stoppage time apart, it had been an uninspiring first half and the boss wasted no time in bringing on Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen. Villa duly wasted no time in getting an equaliser, Malen’s ball flicked in from close range by Morgan Rogers.
Villa were now in control, McGinn’s shot was just over and we had our first ‘supporter running out of the stand to shout at the dug-out’ moment of the season. That means it won’t be long now until the first ‘throw your season ticket away while shouting angrily’. It gets earlier every year.
With fifteen minutes to go Rogers’s free-kick might not have been spectacular but in execution and precision it was the sort of thing we’re getting used to. 2-1 and that was how it stayed, although Leeds had a goal disallowed for handball and the newly-reinstated best keeper in the world made another good save from a close-range header.
It wasn’t a great performance but it was a gritty one, to cone from behind on a horrible day at a horrible place. Villa ended the weekend fourth in the table, which is particularly impressive given that everyone else has played in five more matches.
Next up are an eminently winnable game in Europe followed by a home match against a team who have a good chance of going down with a record low points total. It’s the sort of run that Villa are bound to mess up, or at least used to.
