Tag: Aston Villa

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DEAN SMITH FUMES AT VILLA PLAYERS FOR WESTHAM LOSS.

Dean Smith fumed at Aston Villa’s “Sunday League football” defending as his side went down 3-1 at home to West Ham.

It was Tomas Soucek and a double from Hammers debutant Jesse Lingard that did all the damage with Ollie Watkins striking what proved to be a mere consolation goal.

The result was Villa’s first defeat in four games at Villa Park while it leaves them ninth in the Premier League table.

Speaking afterwards, Smith was asked about what went wrong, and said: “Three horrendous goals we gave away. We didn’t play well. The better team won on the night and we weren’t our usual selves nor did we play with the same tempo we had been in previous games. We gave three awful goals away and you can’t do that at this level.

Listen, we’ve taken a short goal kick, gone forward to Ollie Watkins, it’s broke down and a midfield runner has broke off the back of us and scored. Then, we concede a goal from a counter attack when it’s our free-kick. In fact, Matt Targett does well to get himself out of that situation but we’re left three-vs-one. It’s Sunday League football, you wouldn’t do that and we got punished for it.

“We got ourselves back in the game with a ball down the side for Ollie. It was a good ball from Jack, another assist, and it looked like we were most-likely to get an equaliser but, again, the ball’s broke down again in the centre circle and have gone through and they’ve scored a poor third goal.”

Smith refused to blame Emi Martinez for a rare rick as the ball sailed through the Argentinian to make it 3-1.

The Villa boss added: “The third one he will feel he could do better with, that’s for sure but I’m certainly not going to moan about my goalkeeper making mistakes when he’s kept 10 clean sheets this season and has been one of our best players so far. He’s earned the right to make a mistake.”

Smith was asked about fatigue factor following the third game in a week, but said: “It’s not so much fatigue I don’t think. I’m never one to use that excuse. We had more days’ rest going into this game than we will do for Saturday’s game. We just didn’t have our usual tempo about us today.

“I just don’t think we had a zip about us tonight. I don’t know why. They were brighter than us. We made a change at half time to liven us up, we did that but we gave really poor goals away tonight and we can’t afford to do that at this level.”

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LINGARD NETS DEBUT DOUBLE AS WESTHAM BOUNCE BACK TO WIN 3-1 AT VILLA PARK.

Jesse Lingard marked his West Ham United debut with two second-half goals as David Moyes’ side beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park.

Both teams had first-half chances, Ollie Watkins clipping the outside of a post for the hosts and Tomas Soucek curling narrowly wide.

It was Soucek who broke the deadlock, latching on to Said Benrahma’s through-ball and picking out the bottom-left corner six minutes after the restart.

Lingard doubled West Ham’s lead five minutes later, controlling Michail Antonio’s cross on his chest before firing across Emiliano Martinez.

Watkins halved the deficit following a neat exchange with Jack Grealish but Lingard removed any chance of a Villa comeback with another finish through Martinez seven minutes from time.

A third straight away Premier League victory lifts West Ham to fifth with 38 points, two behind fourth-placed Liverpool.

Villa are six points behind the Hammers in ninth, with two matches in hand.

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CHRIS WOOD HEADER SECURES 3-2 WIN FOR BURNLEY AGAINST ASTON VILLA.

Chris Wood’s 79th-minute header secured back-to-back victories for Burnley as they came from behind to win 3-2 against Aston Villa.

Ollie Watkins finished Matt Targett’s left-wing cross with the outside of his foot to put Villa in front on 14 minutes.

Burnley equalised in the 52nd minute when Ben Mee headed in powerfully from Ashley Westwood’s inswinging corner.

Jack Grealish was denied a wonderful solo goal by Nick Pope, but the Villa captain did score in the 68th minute, sliding in a low volley from Douglas Luiz’s centre.

The hosts hit back eight minutes later, with Dwight McNeil’s cross inadvertently finding the bottom corner.

And Wood glanced in McNeil’s cross at the back post with 11 minutes remaining to complete a remarkable turnaround.

Burnley sit 15th with 22 points, while Villa drop to 10th on 29 points.

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ASTON VILLA SIGN MIDFIELDER SANSON FROM MARSEILLE.

Aston Villa have announced the signing of midfielder Morgan Sanson from Marseille for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance.

The 26-year-old Frenchman has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal at Villa Park.

“Morgan has performed consistently at the highest level in French football for a number of seasons as well as in this season’s Champions League, and is a player with the quality and experience to play in any midfield position,” head coach Dean Smith told the club’s official website.

He will add real competition for starting places and gives us more squad depth which is vital to competing successfully in the Premier League.”

Sanson spent four years at Marseille, scoring 25 goals and providing 22 assists in 157 appearances, having previously played for Le Mans and Montpellier.

Villa’s next match is at Burnley on Wednesday before a trip to Southampton on Saturday 30 January.

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SILVA, GUNDOGAN SCORE IN CITY’S 2-0 WIN OVER VILLA.

Bernardo Silva’s superb strike and a last-minute Ilkay Gundogan penalty earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over a battling Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side enjoyed much of the possession, but were frustrated by a well-drilled Villa defence.

Phil Foden twice went close in the first half, heading at Emiliano Martinez, before pouncing on a wonderful Kevin De Bruyne through-ball, only to be denied by Matty Cash’s block.

After the break, Bertrand Traore showed sublime control from a long throw by Martinez and slipped past De Bruyne, but his final shot lacked power on 52 minutes.

City responded, with Joao Cancelo clipping the woodwork two minutes later.

Silva broke the deadlock with 11 minutes remaining, controlling Rodrigo’s pass before unleashing an unstoppable left-footed shot.

Gundogan wrapped up the points from the spot after Cash had handled.

City’s sixth straight Premier League win sends them second, on 38 points, above Leicester City on goal difference and two points below Manchester United, with a match in hand on both.

Villa, whose head coach Dean Smith was sent off shortly after Silva’s goal, lie 11th with 26 points.

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DEAN SMITH AND ASTON VILLA FIRST TEAM SQUAD SET TO MISS FA CUP TIE AGAINST LIVERPOOL DUE TO COVID-19.

Aston Villa will be without their first-team squad and coach Dean Smith for the FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool on Friday after an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Midlands club.

The home side will use their Under 23s squad and other academy players for the clash with the Premier League champions, depending on how many test negative for the virus.

In place of Smith, U23s boss Mark Delaney will take charge of the team.

Villa were forced to close their Bodymoor Heath training ground on Thursday after reporting a “significant coronavirus outbreak”.

A number of senior players and staff received positive tests on Monday and began to self-isolate, with a further round of testing yielding yet more positive results on Thursday.

It meant the Villa first-team squad had their training session cancelled a little over 24 hours before they were due to take on Liverpool at Villa Park, in a repeat of the game that ended 7-2 to the home side in the Premier League earlier this season.

There were initial fears that the match would have to be called off and that Villa may have been forced to forfeit as the already-packed calendar means there is precious little time to reschedule the game.

Instead, they will field a team of younger players just as Championship side Derby plan to do when they take on non-league Chorley on Saturday after an outbreak forced their entire senior squad, including interim manager Wayne Rooney, to self-isolate.

Villa’s improvised squad will be a reversal of what happened at the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie between the sides in December 2019, when Liverpool were forced to play a reserve team as the senior squad were playing in the Club World Cup in Qatar on the same day.

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said his side had no positive cases to report before they travel to Villa Park on Friday, but the results from the latest tests are yet to come in.

Asked if his side are in the clear, he told reporters: “Yes, 100 per cent we have no cases in this moment. But the tests from yesterday we don’t have the results yet. But up until then it was all fine.”

The Reds are expected to name the likes of James Milner, Xherdan Shaqiri, Divock Origi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Takumi Minamino, Neco Williams and Curtis Jones in the squad.

Villa are the latest of a growing number of Premier League clubs to suffer an outbreak of positive cases in recent weeks, which saw four matches postponed during December.

Newcastle’s match against Smith’s side at the start of last month was postponed because of an outbreak at the Magpies’ training ground. Manchester City then had to postpone their match against Everton on December 28 just four hours before kick-off after a number of cases were reported among players and staff.

Two of Fulham’s festive fixtures, against Tottenham and Burnley, were also called off after an outbreak among the Cottagers squad. Sheffield United also reported a number of positive cases, though their fixtures against Burnley and Crystal Palace went ahead as planned.

It is perhaps little surprise therefore that the Premier League reported on Tuesday that a season-high 40 positive cases had been recorded in the latest round of testing.

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AHEAD FA CUP TIE: ASTON VILLA CAMP LOCKED DOWN DUE TO RISING COVID-19 CASES.

Aston Villa were forced to close their training ground on Thursday after two rounds of testing returned multiple positive cases of coronavirus among players and staff.

“A large number of first team players and staff returned positive tests after being routinely tested on Monday and immediately went into isolation,” Villa said in a statement.

“A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today.”

The Premier League club’s FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool on Friday is now at risk of being postponed.

First team training ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup match with Liverpool was cancelled,” Villa’s statement added.

“Discussions are ongoing between medical representatives of the Club, the Football Association and the Premier League.”

Villa are the fourth Premier League club to suffer a COVID-19 outbreak in the last two months with growing concerns over whether the English top-flight can complete the season on schedule.

Three Premier League matches were postponed last week due to outbreaks at Manchester City and Fulham.

On Tuesday, a record high of 40 positive tests were detected among Premier League players and staff in the week between 28 December and 3 January.

Southampton’s FA Cup trip to Shrewsbury has already been postponed due to a number of positive cases at the League One club.

Wayne Rooney’s Derby will fulfil their fixture at Chorley with a youth team after nine positive tests among first-team players and staff.

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CHE 1-1 AVL: EL-GHAZI EXTENDS ASTON VILLA UNBEATEN RUN.

Anwar El Ghazi’s second-half goal earned Aston Villa a 1-1 draw at Chelsea to extend their unbeaten league run to five matches.

Chelsea made a strong start with Christian Pulisic twice coming close to scoring, firing into the side-netting and then hooking over from close range.

Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock for Chelsea with 11 first-half minutes remaining.

The Frenchman met Ben Chilwell’s cross with a diving header to stretch his run of scoring against Villa to seven straight league matches.

But Villa struck back through El Ghazi, who met Matty Cash’s cross six yards out to score his fifth goal in five matches.

Both teams pushed for a winner without success, John McGinn thumping the crossbar from range and Chilwell volleying a fraction wide in second-half stoppage time.

The result takes Villa to fifth with 26 points, one fewer than fourth-placed Manchester United.

Chelsea are just behind them on goal difference, having played two matches more.

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AVL 3-0 CRY: 10-MAN VILLA THRASH CRYSTAL PALACE TO CLIMB TO SIXTH ON THE LOG.

Anwar El Ghazi scored a stunning goal as 10-man Aston Villa earned a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace to rise to sixth.

Bertrand Traore gave Aston Villa a fifth-minute lead when he reacted quickest after Vicente Guaita had saved from Ollie Watkins.

Just before half-time, Tyrone Mings was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Wilfried Zaha.

Villa still managed to double their advantage on 66 minutes when Watkins headed against the crossbar and Kortney Hause bundled in.

Ten minutes later it was 3-0 as Watkins passed to El Ghazi who curled a first-time strike in off the post.

Watkins was then denied a deserved goal of his own when he hit the woodwork for a second time after a superb through-ball from Jack Grealish.

Villa are six points behind leaders Liverpool having played a match fewer.

Crystal Palace are without a goal and a point in two straight league matches. This defeat comes after receiving seven unreplied goals from Liverpool last weekend at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles are 13th on 18 points after back-to-back defeats.

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EL GHAZI INSPIRES IMPRESSIVE ASTON VILLA WIN AGAINST WESTBROM, GIVES ALLARDYCE A NIGHTMARISH START.

A brace from Anwar El Ghazi and a second-half Bertrand Traore strike gave Aston Villa a 3-0 win over West Brom in the Premier League on Sunday, handing new Baggies boss Sam Allardyce a defeat in his first game in charge.

Allardyce replaced the sacked Slaven Bilic in midweek, but there was little he could do as his side went behind when El Ghazi deftly steered home Traore’s cross at the far post in the fifth minute.

West Brom had captain Jake Livermore sent off following a VAR review for a reckless tackle on Jack Grealish, and Allardyce’s new charges barely threatened after that, managing a single shot in the whole game.

Traore added a second goal six minutes from time and El Ghazi slotted home a late penalty to secure a win that lifts Villa to ninth spot on 22 points after 12 games.

Meanwhile, West Brom remain second from bottom with seven points from 14 games.