Dave Woodhall sees Villa win at Wycombe in the Carabao Cup.
Cast your mind back to the time Martin O’Neill sent a weakened squad to Moscow for a Uefa Cup game in order to give Villa a better chance of a Champions League place. Or a couple of years later when Gerard Houllier did much the same against Manchester City in the FA Cup, for reasons that no-one understands to this day. Those teams were greeted with outrage. When the Villa eleven for the game with Wycombe was announced, scarcely an eyebrow was raised.
This might have been because supporters were too busy wondering who some of the players in the matchday squad might have been. Indeed, you’d have to be a regular watcher of Villa’s lesser sides to know where Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, Travis Patterson and Aidan Borland might fit into the team. More recognisable names included the welcome sight of Emiliano Buendia making his first start for sixteen months and Jhon Duran getting the chance to see what mayhem he could cause over the course of a full ninety minutes.
Duran could have got off to the perfect start but missed a chance fter five minutes and that was about all there was to say about Villa in the first half. The only player anything like busy was keeper Joe Gauci, who had to make a couple of good saves as the makeshift defence showed their inexperience.
Games like this should be opportunities for the fringe players to show they’re capable of stepping up. It never seems to work that way, though, and as a result Villa have had far too many embarassing nights in the early rounds of the League Cup. This one looked like it could go the same way with Ross Barkley amongst others failing to impress and Buendia having a quiet game, although he can at least be excused given his lengthy lay-off.
Eventually Villa stepped up and a header from Buenda after 55 minutes put the team into the lead. There had been a bit of fortune with the way Ian Maatsen’s initial cross was cleared but the diminutive Argentinian got up well to send a looping header past the Wycombe defence with their keeper stranded.
Half an hour later, during which time the only action of note resulted in a good full-length save from Joe Gauci, Duran was brought down in the area, just about, and got up to take the resulting penelty himself. Seasoned Duran-watchers might have expected a run-up from the halfway line or perhaps a backheel but instead, it was a perfectly well-placed spot kick into the bottom corner. With the game won, a few of the lesser-known subs got the opportunity to start what we can but hope will be long and successful Villa careers although the home side did muscle through the defence to get a consolation in the final seconds of stoppage time.
It wasn’t a particularly good performance and there wouldn’t have been a new ground for many Villa supporters given how often we’ve played there in the past but we’re in the draw for the fourth round, which is the only thing that really matters. The next midweek game willl be a different prospect entirely.
