Villa 1 - 0 Odense (3 - 2 on aggregate)
By: Martini Extra Dry | July 26th, 2008
Elation at Villa Park, as Villa go through to the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds after winning the Intertoto Cup today.
Unlike the first leg, Villa took the game to Odense and completely dominated the possession and the attacks. Villa came off the blocks strongly, making chance after chance right from the whistle, Odense only making real breakthroughs twice, the post saving us once and Taylor’s lightning reactions on the other occasion.
Disaster struck on the 12th minute when Bouma went down in clear agony, with his foot facing in a direction that it really shouldn’t do. It looked like a horrificly broken leg at the time but later reports from the hospital stated that he had dislocated it. How long he’ll be out is what Villa fans will be wanting to know, with no replacement left back, making the position as empty as the right back one is. I would hazard a guess at between 3 and 6 months out for Freddy, which is a huge blow for us to lose such a consistent performer.
The silver lining to this dark cloud was Gareth Barry coming on to replace Bouma and performed exceptionally well from left back. Gareth passed the ball around just like last season, making chances for Villa even from his defensive position and even receiving adoring reactions from the Villa faithful.
Ashley Young was the man who made the difference between the teams with an excellent solo goal starting from his own half. He broke down the left flank and then cut inside, sending former Villa man Djembe-Djembe the wrong way, before hitting it beautifully into the top corner. It was a goal that has got us into the UEFA Cup but I have a feeling that Young would remember such a peach even if it wasn’t so significant.
Odense pushed a little harder towards the end but ultimately proved too weak to break down an on-form Aston Villa.
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