Blackburn 0-2 VILLA: Villa third, six England call-ups
By: Chris | February 8th, 2009Yesterday was a fantastic day for everyone connected with Aston Villa, and Arsenal’s failure to defeat Spurs today, leaving them seven points behind us, merely helps us grin all the way into Monday.
Starting with Saturday’s match, goals from James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor were enough to see off Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers side. I’ve not seen the game, but Charlie Nicholas – watching for Sky Sports – and Allardyce both said we were the better team and that’s good enough for me.
Milner opened the scoring with a clever left-footed shot after working a quick corner (that’s right, Villa scored from a quick corner!) with skipper Gareth Barry. I hear there were a couple of Blackburn penalty shouts, but also we had a goal wrongly disallowed, so even’s even. At any rate, Agbonlahor put the seal on it at the death, clipping in a deflected finish for 2-0.
With Chelsea firing a blank against Hull City, the win sent Villa third. We’re also now seven points clear of Arsenal in the fight for fourth. Whatever happens for the rest of the season, we’ve made our mark.
Saturday was capped off by the announcement that six Villa players have been selected in Fabio Capello’s England squad for the midweek friendly against Spain.
If you don’t know, Villa have provided more England internationals throughout history than any other club. With six looking to pick up caps in the week, the record is set to be extended. And these six lads fully deserve their calls.
Emile Heskey and Gareth Barry have plenty of caps between them, but the selection of the other four is testament to our magnificent season. Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young get all the headlines, and as such were obvious choices. But I’m absolutely delighted for James Milner, who has really come into his own in recent weeks and works his arse off, and Luke Young. Luke’s been one of our better players this term – what a bargain!
Well done lads. A proud weekend for the Villa. And…oh look…here they are:
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Category: Match Reports
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Comments
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you guys really couldve piled it on but missed alot of opps. looked pretty damn good though.
Posted from
United States
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Both sides had a few calls go against them and both missed their share of chances. Like you (And Big Sam) said though, Villa were the better side.
Posted from
United States -
Great to see Villa continuing this great form. Aside from being a die-hard United fan, I really like Villa. O’Neill is an incredible manager and I just really like how your club is set up as a whole. Great chairman who stays out of the football matters, good coaching and a good, youthful English core to a quality side.
I hope your guys keep it up now. If they finish in 3rd they automatically go into the CL Group Stages.
Posted from
Ireland -
It would have been nice if Chelsea had waited another week to chop Scolari, but any thing that disrupts their preparation is good news. And besides the possible effect on the match, it’s tangible proof that the old guard is feeling nervous (see also the rumours that Benitez might get canned if Liverpool don’t win the Prem.) Most of it is their own fault, but I like to think Villa has had a little something to do with it.
Posted from
United States -
Great news for Villa.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
i might be a `Pool fan but i loving seeing Villa up near the top .. reminds me of the good old days ..
Posted from
Canada
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