Arsenal the only top 6 team to win yesterday, Bye bye Marlon and guess what? Arsene didn’t see anything wrong for the penalty
It was a strange day yesterday for top 6 teams. Man Utd lost to Fulham, and by all accounts were outclassed too, Chelsea lost to London rivals Tottenham (but sometimes even the very best teams lose to Tottenham) and Everton, despite taking the lead in the first five minutes, lost to struggling Portsmouth.
Villa now find themselves being only concerned with Everton and Arsenal in the short term, so the results were 50/50 for us, as Arsenal won 3-1 at St James’s Park . If we wish to remain on level points with the Gunners, we need to win this afternoon at Anfield. That’s going to be a very big ask for a team very low on confidence to beat another so high on confidence after putting 4 past both Man Utd and Real Madrid.
I won’t say we haven’t a chance today, because not only would that be defeatist but I also don’t believe it. Villa are one of those weird teams that pull it out for the bigger occasions and it wouldn’t be totally shocking if we won. I don’t fancy our chances, but I am not writing us off.
The Hare becomes a Wolf
Marlon Harewood was apparently on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest on loan this week but rejected the chance in favour of a loan to Wolves. This way he won’t have to move house and he joins a team who currently look likely to be Premiership next season. The rumour seems pretty solid and also implies that he will join them proper in the summer.
Well I say “Good luck to you Marlon”. He hasn’t really been given enough opportunities at Villa and on some of the occasionshe has played he’s scored good goals. Whether he is cut out for a team chasing Champions League though, well I can’t say he is. But he can be a good player for a team like Wolves so I wish him well.
Arsene disagree’s with a decision that went against Arsenal!
Finally, nothing to do with Villa but I was watching the game on Setanta last night and Arsene Wenger said at the end of the match that the penalty Newcastle won and wasted, should never have been awarded because he saw nothing wrong. Well, whether it was or whether it wasn’t I couldn’t help thinking what his comments would’ve been if it had been the exact same incident but at the other end and the ref had not given a penalty. Then it would miraculously have been a clear penalty that the ref is a fool for not giving!
I know it’s not Villa-related but the guy does my head in sometimes with his bias. Whenever a player of his does something wrong; he didn’t see it, but when it’s against him he suddenly has eyes in the back of his head!
Villa 2-2 Arsenal – For most of the game we spanked the Gunners
For the second time this season Villa took the game to Arsenal and made a case for us as successors to their top four place. For the vast majority of the game Arsenal found us far too hot to handle and only the woodwork and a spectacular off-the-line clearance by Bacary Sagna, rescued them from a 6-2 romping. As usual Arsene Wenger had the nerve to blame the referee, but I guess that shows why his team is looking so limp this season; he’s blind to the real truth thats in front of his eyes (i.e. his team aren’t good enough to be top four unless they buck their ideas up).
The game
With Carlos Cuellar and Martin Laursen both injured, MON handed NRC the right back position and Zat Knight his first start of the season. A back pairing of young Curtis Davies and out of form Zat Knight looked a little worrying but they both played superbly defensively and attackingly. Both of them could’ve done better on the second Arsenal goal but neither could be said to be to blame for it. Davies had two good chances to score, one a poorly directed header and the other a superb looping shot that had everyone but the crossbar beaten.
Villa vs Fulham – Match preview
Both teams go into the game sitting in a league position that is above what would be expected from them, Villa being top four, when no-one expects the usual four to be interfered with, and Fulham being 9th, when many had them pegged as relegation battlers. The season is still early though and a lot can change yet, so this is a game that they’ll both be looking for three points in.
Fulham (even more so than Villa) have really struggled to get any form of consistency going all season, but both teams gained a valuable point against a top four side last week and both have come away victorious against Arsenal, helping to add to Arsene Wenger’s migraine.
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