To Owe Great Thanks

Villa boys held on for a draw versus West Brom on Saturday.  Several thank you's are in order:

(1)  Shay Given - great save to maintain the clean sheet
(2) Chelsea - for beating QPR  6-1
(3) Tottenham - for beating Blackburn


How it stands at the moment:

Remaining games to play that matter to Villa:

Aston Villa:  Tottenham, Norwich City
Wigan: Blackburn, Wolverhampton
QPR: Stoke, Man City
Bolton: Tottenham, West Brom, Stoke (Bolton's game in hand may become very important)
Blackburn: Wigan, Chelsea

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I can't believe it.  So we score first (Warnock) and before we can feel good about the lead, Bolton scores twice in less than 3 minutes following Villa's score.  The equalizer stunned the Villa and the second Bolton goal was the upper cut to end the battle.  

Villa played strong in the first half and had several chances.  It was amazing when we scored to take the lead - but the environment changed very quickly shortly after that.  I was listening to the commentary by Jack Woodward and it sounded like Villa players were completely stunned after the Bolton equalizer (Jack even used the term "drunk" to describe the teams deomeanor.  

What a horrible loss.  This relegation battle is not over by a long shot.  

3 Points and an Away Win....Finally.

Marc Albrighton was in the starting 11 and he shined in Villa's victory over Bolton 1-2.  Sillyan Petrov and Albrighton scored Villa's goals.  In his first premiership start, Brad Guzan played a tremendous game in place of the injured Shay Given.

Corona, CA Neighborhood - Premiership

I stumbled upon an interesting neighborhood in Corona, CA (45-50 miles south east of Los Angeles).  It is a little development (looks like an in-fill project).  The interesting thing about it is that the street names within this development are "Aston Villa Way", "Bolton St.", "Arsenal Way", and "Fulham St.".  The street names surrounding this little cluster of town homes look like regular street names (no football connections).  Sure would like to find out the story behind this.  Of course, Aston Villa Way is that main street!   UTV!

Carling Cup 3rd Rd. Draw - Bolton

The Villa has drawn Bolton for our next Carling Cup match - scheduled for tomorrow (20 Sep 2011) 11:45 a.m. kickoff (Pacific Time) @ Villa Park.  There is no scheduled U.S. television broadcast, so you'll need to scour the internet for a live streaming feed somewhere.  Up the Villa!

I don't understand

So - who can explain why Houllier rested so many regulars in Villa's defeat in the FA Cup 5th round vs. Man City??  (No A. Young, Albrighton, or Downing).  Huh?? We still had the opportunity for some glory this season - and there was no need to hold out key players because we are not in the race for the Premiership title or hovering close to relegation.  So we go down to City 3-nil and then our "rested" players come up short to Bolton today in our Premier League match.  So why did it look like we were "resting" people??

Villa had all of the chances to win today - Bent missed some key opportunities right in front of the net.

Bolton Cahill 45,75 Klasnic 86	3 - 2	Aston Villa Bent 15 Albrighton 64

Villa Draws with Bolton 1-1

Ashley Young scored today and Villa was able to come away with a 1-1 draw versus Bolton today.  This was also Kevin MacDonald's last game as caretaker manager.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010 2010 Premier League, Round 5 Villa Park, Attendance: 34,655    Aston Villa 1 : 1 Final Bolton Wanderers Match Stats | Match Trax Ashley Young (13')  Goals (35') Kevin Davies   Stephen Warnock (43') Cards (17') Zatyiah Knight (67') Kevin Davies   Carlos Cuellar (46') (Dunne) John Alieu Carew (73') (Ireland) Substitutions (18') Samuel Ricketts (O'Brien) (69') Mark Davies (Muamba) (84') Matthew Taylor (Petrov)   TEAM STATS Individual Leaders   Individual Leaders (1) Ashley Young  1  Goals 1   Kevin Davies (1)   0  Assists 1   Martin Petrov (1) (4) Stewart Downing  12  Shots 14   Martin Petrov (4) (1) Stewart Downing (1) Ashley Young (1) Gabriel Agbonlahor  3  Shots on Goal 6   Kevin Davies (2) (5) Brad Friedel  5  Saves 2   Adam Bogdan (2) (6) Ashley Young  8  Corner Kicks 4   Stuart Holden (2) (1) Gabriel Agbonlahor (1) John Alieu Carew  2  Offsides 1   Chung-Yong Lee (1) (3) Marc Albrighton  15  Fouls Committed 7   Kevin Davies (3) (1) Stephen Warnock  1  Yellow Cards 2   Zatyiah Knight (1) Kevin Davies (1)     Red Cards       0  Penalty Kick Goals 0

Three Titanic Points!

Ashley Young scored in the 11" and Villa was able to hang on for a crucial 1-nil victory over Bolton. While I was monitoring the game on AVFC website (live interactive), I was watching the Tottenam match against Sunderland. Sunderland won 3-1 and helped Villa by not allowing a point to Spurs. Keep your eyes on fourth position - we are still in it! I was rooting for Burnley, but alas, they fell to Man City 6-1.
1. Chelsea (74) 33 gm
2. Man Utd (72) 33 gm
3. Arsenal (71) 33 gm
4. Manchester City (59) 32 gm
5. Tottenham Hotspur (58) 32 gm
6. Liverpool (54) 32 gm
7. ASTON VILLA (54) 32 gm

Bolton vs Aston Villa

	0 - 1
Date:  03/04/2010		Venue:  Reebok Stadium
Attendance:  21,111		Referee:  Michael Jones

	Bolton	Aston Villa
Goals :	0	1
Possession :	46%	54%
Shots On Target :	10	9
Shots Off Target :	4	4
Corners :	6	8
Fouls :	13	14
Most Fouls :	Robinson (3)	Collins (5)
Yellow Cards :	2	0
Red Cards :	0	0
Scorers :		Young 11