Tag: Aston Villa

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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.

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GREALISH GETS £82K FINE, NINE-MONTH DRIVING BAN.

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been banned from driving for nine months and fined £82,000 for two motor offences.

The offences relate to a car collision on March 29 and a further incident near Villa’s training ground on Oct. 18.

CCTV footage of the March incident showed Grealish’s car colliding with a wall after clipping parked cars.

The incident happened shortly after the UK had gone into lockdown in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic and Grealish apologised for his actions.

Grealish arrived at Birmingham magistrates on foot while another person driving his car grabbed the waiting media’s attention as he entered.

Grealish’s lawyer John Dye said the England international was “deeply ashamed.”

He added: “Not just because reputationally this is problematic for him but he is genuinely sorry.”

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WOLVES 0-1 A.VILLA: EL GHAZI LATE PENALTY GIVE VILLA THREE POINTS.

Anwar El Ghazi’s stoppage-time penalty and Emiliano Martinez’s saves helped Aston Villa bounce back from two straight defeats to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0.

In a first half of few clear chances, Ezri Konsa headed just wide for Villa, while Daniel Podence forced a fine save from Martinez.

After the break, Fabio Silva came close to his first Wolves goal but saw his strike hit a post, while Martinez brilliantly denied Leander Dendoncker from close range.

With five minutes remaining, Douglas Luiz was dismissed after a second yellow card, one of 11 in the match.

Villa’s penalty came as Nelson Semedo brought down John McGinn and substitute El Ghazi converted.

Wolves then had Joao Moutinho sent off for a second booking as defeat drops them to 11th on 17 points.

A fourth away win in five matches takes Villa up to eighth on 18 points.

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VILLA-NEWCASTLE PREMIER LEAGUE TIE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK.

Newcastle United’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Friday has become the first English top-flight game to be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak after a “significant increase” in COVID-19 cases at the club.

Newcastle’s Darsley Park training ground has been closed since Monday as a response to several players and staff members being forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19.

With manager Steve Bruce’s playing squad severely impacted by the outbreak, Newcastle informed the Premier League of their difficulties in honouring their commitment to play Friday’s game at Villa Park and the league has confirmed that they have now granted their request to postpone the game.

“Following a Premier League Board meeting today, Newcastle United’s fixture at Aston Villa, due to be played at 8 p.m. Friday 4 December, has been postponed,” a Premier League statement said.

“Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to rearrange the game following a significant increase in COVID-19 cases at the club which resulted in Public Health England North East (PHE) advising that their training facilities remain closed.

“The Premier League Board agreed, as a consequence, that the club are unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday.

“The decision has been taken in consultation with Newcastle United and Aston Villa, and following extensive consultation with PHE and Premier League medical advisors, with the health of players and staff the priority.

“Newcastle correctly notified PHE regarding a number of positive COVID-19 test results, which is standard practice under Government and Premier League guidelines.

“PHE convened a meeting with Newcastle and the Premier League yesterday to assess the situation and advised the club’s training ground should remain closed and no group training would be permitted between players until Friday at the earliest.

“All players and training ground staff will be re-tested this week and another meeting between the club, PHE and the Premier League will take place to assess the test results.

“The Premier League wishes those with COVID-19 a safe and speedy recovery and will rearrange the postponed fixture against Aston Villa in due course.”

Premier League clubs test players and coaching staff at least twice a week in order to comply with COVID-19 protocols.

On Monday, the league confirmed that 10 positive results had been recorded from 1,381 players and staff in the most recent round of testing.

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JACK GREALISH WANTS VAR SCRAPPED AFTER ASTON VILLA SUFFER DEFEAT TO WESTHAM.

Jack Grealish has called to ‘get rid’ of VAR after Aston Villa were controversially denied a late equaliser in their dramatic 2-1 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium.

The Villans attempted to muster a fightback after Jarrod Bowen put the hosts ahead at the start of the second half with a deft header but were unable to score the all-important leveller.

Grealish, 25, had evened the scores in the first half with a fine individual goal after Angelo Ogbonna opened the scoring with a powerful header in just the second minute of the game.

Villa had the Hammers under the cosh in the latter stages, and striker Ollie Watkins had a game to forget having missed from the penalty spot before seeing his late strike ruled out.

The former Brentford striker latched onto a wonderful Matt Targett cross to strike home beyond Lukasz Fabianski in stoppage time, in what Villa thought was the sought-after equaliser.

However, VAR intervened to deem that the Englishman was marginally offside, with the top of his arm just straying beyond the last West Ham defender.

Villa boss Dean Smith, as well as Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, have argued that Watkins’ arm was in that position because he had in fact been fouled by Ogbonna when the ball was played in.

And Grealish, who has already made his thoughts on VAR public following last week’s controversial defeat to Brighton at Villa Park, has once again hit out at the video technology.

‘As for VAR, I’ve shared my views before and it’s now just getting borderline embarrassing with some off the decisions. Ruining the game,’ the Villa captain tweeted to his 388,000 followers on Twitter after the game.

The England international also posted ‘VAR get rid’ to his 1.1million followers on Instagram.

Grealish’s latest comments follow his criticism last week after Villa were denied a late penalty against the Seagulls following a VAR review.

After the game at Villa Park, Grealish tweeted: ‘VAR = LMAO’.

They have given offside for a part of the body that can’t put the ball in the back of the net,’ Villa boss Smith said after the game. ‘The only reason the arm is where it is, is because he is being fouled by someone who had his arms round his neck.’