Aston Villa 2 - 1 West Ham

Aston Villa v West Ham
Sunday February 10th 2013
13:30
Premier League
Villa Park

Aston Villa 2  1 West Ham

       Benteke (pen) 74'             Westwood (og) 87'

                                                 N'Zogbia 78'

Picture: GETTY IMAGES for BBC Sport

There was a pathetic fallacy to a rain-drenched Villa Park this Sunday afternoon, with Aston Villa languishing in a very dangerous position next to the foot of the Premier League table. Paul Lambert described his young side's run-in as 13 cup finals, and I am inclined to agree with him. He turned to his default of youth, handing a debut to 21 year old Jordan Bowery, a half million pound signing from League Two Chesterfield last summer. With Benteke partnering the young debutant up top, there was again no place in the starting line-up for Darren Bent, who had to make do with another shift on the bench. Big Sam Allardyce welcomed Andy Carroll back from injury last week, and the rangey striker should be the type of player you want against a back line with a form like Villa's, the West Midlands club notoriously bad at defending set-pieces this campaign.

The last thing Villa can afford to do is waste golden opportunities, but Weimann did just that 2 minutes in. Benteke's shot was spilled dreadfully by Jaaskelainen and Weimann somehow managed to slot the follow up wide from 10 yards out. You will not see an easier chance than that.

Villa Park was by no means full, and you got the feeling that an early goal for the visitors could turn the atmosphere very much against Lambert's young men.

The opening of the game lived up to it's billing. Both sides displayed a distinct lack of any quality football, accompanied by a greasy pitch and a choice of kits that were by no means aesthetically pleasing. But then again, who said Sunday League football can't be entertaining.

The touching 19th minute applause for club-captain Stan Petrov was the first opportunity the Villa faithful got to warm their hands, in an otherwise uneventful first quarter.

Joey O'Brien was forced off with an injury for West Ham, replaced by fellow right back Demel, whilst an accidental kick to the face of James Tomkins brought about a saw jaw but did not force the centre back to leave the fray.

Slowly but surely Villa gained a little momentum in the game, through a catalogue of errors strewn across the West Ham 11. Soft free kicks in the wide areas allowed the hosts to lump the ball into the box, but no one looked likely to beat the Hammers' back line in the air, especially when reinforced by Andy Carroll.

West Ham finally managed to break into the box with Diame, but his shot sailed comfortably wide. Villa looked the only side willing to play football, though whether they were able was another matter.

Vlaar had a free kick teed up for him from 35 yards, and his ridiculous strike trickled 35 yards wide of the target, a moment that optimised a lacklustre first half. Moments later from a corner the Villa captain had an attempt from a much more realistic distance, attacking a corner at the near post but blasting over from close range.

It is to be hoped that the Villa Park pies are world class, as the travelling fans deserved something meatier than the utter dross they had witnessed for three quarters of an hour on the pitch to take back to East London for their troubles. 

One can only speculate as to the severity of the half time team talks, though the second half began where the first had left off, neither side able to keep the ball long enough to find an incisive final ball.

There were fervent appeals for a West Ham penalty when Andy Carroll was bundled to the ground in the box by Clark, and though Clattenberg might have given a free kick anywhere else, it would have been soft to award a spot-kick.

A string of West Ham corners had Villa looking increasingly nervous, and the pressure grew, with Guzan flapping at crosses and the defence becoming worryingly frail. At long last the game had threated to spark into life, and the Hammers smelt blood.

Villa came through unscathed, but were unable to create anything that could be called a chance at the other end. The final ball cut more of hope than ingenuity.

West Ham would have done well to get players like Mark Noble on the ball more often, as the diminutive midfielder looked the most likely source of creativity on the pitch.

Lambert played his potential trump card just past the hour mark, sending on Darren Bent to replace the ineffective Bowery. As is so often the case, the change yielded an instant impact, albeit not via the substitute, as N'Zogbia sighted goal and shot just wide.

In the Villa box, Andy Carroll brought the ball down brilliantly under pressure and his quick-fire shot looked to be heading in, Darren Bent proving the unlikely hero in his own penalty area, doing very well to clear off the line.

Joe Cole showed his experience, intelligently drawing a foul out of Baker wide on the right. The resulting free kick was met by the head of top scorer Kevin Nolan, though he was unable to find the target.

Suddenly Villa stumbled upon a golden opportunity, Mark Noble giving away a stone wall but sloppy penalty, taking down N'Zogbia and leaving Mark Clattenberg with no choice but to point to the spot. Benteke showed nerves of steel under the circumstances, and dispatched the penalty superbly, sending Jaaskelainen the wrong way and sliding it in to give Villa a priceless lead. Lambert's men faced a nerve-wracking fifteen minutes to hang on.

Allardyce stated his intent to get back into it immediately, pulling off Noble in favour of another striker in Carlton Cole. It proved futile though, as a free kick for Villa from 20 yards was magnificently sent home by Charles N'Zogbia. Questions have to be asked of the West Ham wall, who puzzlingly decided against jumping, but nevertheless take nothing away from N'Zogbia, in the space of 10 minutes the frenchman had turned the game on it's head and given Villa a lead as crucial as you could imagine.

They almost had another penalty to seal it, but the referee rightly awarded a goal kick. As it stood they had ten minutes to hold on for a valuable 3 points that could take them out of the bottom three.

Inevitably Guzan's goal was to be peppered for the remainder of the game, and a cruel deflection off Westwood's head looped agonisingly over the Villa keeper and in. Surely Villa couldn't throw away another lead at home?

Four minutes of added time was met with a groan of disapproval from the home fans, but their side hung on. It had been a very ugly affair, though a riveting finish gave a flattering scoreline.

Paul Lambert will most certainly not care, and will sleep a little easier tonight with his team sat outside of the relegation zone.

It had looked at half time as though both sets of fans might have been reaching for the claret to wash away the Sunday blues, but it will be the West Midlanders who breathe a huge sigh of relief today.