Aston Villa v QPR Post-Match Thread

[chrisf]

Guzan 8 - 2 outstanding saves in the first half. Dominant in the air again and passed it more into midfield than usual. been a big find for us this season and likely to be our keeper for many years
Lowton 4 - An assist and should have had a goal. One great block in the second half. In between all that he was horribly out of his depth. His form of late is in the same vein as Hutton or De La Cruz. Physically weak, positionally awful and beaten for pace throughout
Vlaar 5 - doesnt look fully fit. His organisation skills are desperate, definitely a follower rather than a leader. was the best of our back 4 but that wasnt saying much if anything
Clark 4 - woeful really. Same as Lowton decent on the ball but lots of the same weaknesses, physically weak, slow and rash. Not good enough I'm afraid and I had high hopes for him
Baker 5 - there is brave and then there is reckless. Baker falls in the later category and the injury he picked up was a result of putting himself in a position where he could have got seriously injured. Poor defender in any case
Sylla 5 - positionally seemed a bit all over the place today. definitely still very raw but his strength and mobility was badly lacking following his subsitution.
Bannan 4 - good game last week but hopeless in this one. the decision to replace Sylla and not him could have cost us the game. His limitations without the ball are pretty obvious but was very disappointed with him today with the ball. Thought the occasion got to him and certainly he didnt get on the ball as much as he should have.
Westwood 8 - despite his best efforts, without the ball he is almost as ineffective as Bannan. Was part of a midfield destroyed on the counter attack at time. However with the ball I thought he was excellent today. Always looking to get on the ball, great positioning and football intelligence about picking the right pass. He was involved in all our best football. Needs Delph next to him.
Weimann 8 - not in the game at all in the first half. But what leadership he showed in the second half. Another goal but his assist was our best play of the season. The contrast between the guts he showed and the lack that his direction opponent Fabio did was striking
Gabby 8 - shite in the first half, he needed to target Boswinga but instead floated around doing nothing. But the goal woke him up and with Benteke misfiring badly, he showed great leadership in the second half.
Benteke 5 - beaten up a stick by Samba today. Terrible defending on the opening set piece and offered us very little going forward. Still scored the winner and will have learned more today than the last couple of games where he was outstanding.

Bennett 5 - horrible start. tidy player on the ball certainly but too physically weak to be a defender at this level
Nzogbia 7 - slow enough start but soon found space and was involved in the winner with a good pass to Weimann. Bit unlucky to be out of the side at the moment
Bowery - not on long enough

What a load of old shit.

[pauliewalnuts]

Westwood today - 88 touches, 97% pass accuracy

Where are these stats up?

whoscored.com

[achilles]

Good write-up Bronte and thanks for making the effort!

[gervilla]

The Ref must be gutted.
His performance requires some serious looking in to.
How he could decide that Bosingwa didn't just roll the ball into the keepers hands is beyond me.
That was just the start of it.
Well done boys. Great 2nd half performance. More of this for the rest of the season.
A few celebratory pints for me are called for tonight.

[achilles]

Guzan 8 - 2 outstanding saves in the first half. Dominant in the air again and passed it more into midfield than usual. been a big find for us this season and likely to be our keeper for many years
Lowton 4 - An assist and should have had a goal. One great block in the second half. In between all that he was horribly out of his depth. His form of late is in the same vein as Hutton or De La Cruz. Physically weak, positionally awful and beaten for pace throughout
Vlaar 5 - doesnt look fully fit. His organisation skills are desperate, definitely a follower rather than a leader. was the best of our back 4 but that wasnt saying much if anything
Clark 4 - woeful really. Same as Lowton decent on the ball but lots of the same weaknesses, physically weak, slow and rash. Not good enough I'm afraid and I had high hopes for him
Baker 5 - there is brave and then there is reckless. Baker falls in the later category and the injury he picked up was a result of putting himself in a position where he could have got seriously injured. Poor defender in any case
Sylla 5 - positionally seemed a bit all over the place today. definitely still very raw but his strength and mobility was badly lacking following his subsitution.
Bannan 4 - good game last week but hopeless in this one. the decision to replace Sylla and not him could have cost us the game. His limitations without the ball are pretty obvious but was very disappointed with him today with the ball. Thought the occasion got to him and certainly he didnt get on the ball as much as he should have.
Westwood 8 - despite his best efforts, without the ball he is almost as ineffective as Bannan. Was part of a midfield destroyed on the counter attack at time. However with the ball I thought he was excellent today. Always looking to get on the ball, great positioning and football intelligence about picking the right pass. He was involved in all our best football. Needs Delph next to him.
Weimann 8 - not in the game at all in the first half. But what leadership he showed in the second half. Another goal but his assist was our best play of the season. The contrast between the guts he showed and the lack that his direction opponent Fabio did was striking
Gabby 8 - shite in the first half, he needed to target Boswinga but instead floated around doing nothing. But the goal woke him up and with Benteke misfiring badly, he showed great leadership in the second half.
Benteke 5 - beaten up a stick by Samba today. Terrible defending on the opening set piece and offered us very little going forward. Still scored the winner and will have learned more today than the last couple of games where he was outstanding.

Bennett 5 - horrible start. tidy player on the ball certainly but too physically weak to be a defender at this level
Nzogbia 7 - slow enough start but soon found space and was involved in the winner with a good pass to Weimann. Bit unlucky to be out of the side at the moment
Bowery - not on long enough

What a load of old shit.

If you can't do anything but criticise when someone puts their opinion on the forum, why don't you just go somewhere else!

[Stu]

Southampton and ourselves have dragged pretty much the bottom half of the table into the relegation battle now. If Newcastle manage to get any kind of result against Wigan they should cruise to safety. But after their game midweek, Wigan winning would be far from a surprise. I like Chris Hughton so hope Norwich do Sunderland, Norwich are struggling for goals though. you could make a case for any of the sides above us to go down to be honest. the safety points mark is likely to rise unfortunately.

back to the game, started well but QPR werent long making mince of our back 4. Guzan made 2 outstanding stops. Benteke beaten like a child in the air for the first, second seemed to be offside but still a serious save. Another chronic individual error for an opposition goal, this time Bennett. We looked to have lost our way totally up front in the first half with the three of them getting in each others way. The goal when it did arrive was more down to gutless goalkeeping from Cesar than any great play on our behalf.

Second half, Gabby and Weimann started targeting their full backs, Fabio in particular, which paid rich dividends. We again looked really decent going
forward during the second half. even more so when Nzogbia came on but Sylla coming off instead of Bannan was a terrible substitution. We all pretty much said it on the match thread, we needed to score our third then. Lowton missed a great chance. They equalised out of nothing but Tarrabt was making a big difference at that stage. The lack of a defensive midfielder was terribly obvious, we missed Delph something shocking today. Weimann was huge for us, his goal was a decent shot but again Cesar was more at fault. But his undeniable spirit was key to our winner, an unbelievable assist for Benteke's winner. For one horrible moment I thought Benteke was going to miss it. We were a shambles trying to defend the last few minutes. Clint Hill's shot was less than a foot wide. Thankfully luck went in our favour. Certainly feels like we are safe but might take 8 more points so far from out of it yet.

Guzan 8 - 2 outstanding saves in the first half. Dominant in the air again and passed it more into midfield than usual. been a big find for us this season and likely to be our keeper for many years
Lowton 4 - An assist and should have had a goal. One great block in the second half. In between all that he was horribly out of his depth. His form of late is in the same vein as Hutton or De La Cruz. Physically weak, positionally awful and beaten for pace throughout
Vlaar 5 - doesnt look fully fit. His organisation skills are desperate, definitely a follower rather than a leader. was the best of our back 4 but that wasnt saying much if anything
Clark 4 - woeful really. Same as Lowton decent on the ball but lots of the same weaknesses, physically weak, slow and rash. Not good enough I'm afraid and I had high hopes for him
Baker 5 - there is brave and then there is reckless. Baker falls in the later category and the injury he picked up was a result of putting himself in a position where he could have got seriously injured. Poor defender in any case
Sylla 5 - positionally seemed a bit all over the place today. definitely still very raw but his strength and mobility was badly lacking following his subsitution.
Bannan 4 - good game last week but hopeless in this one. the decision to replace Sylla and not him could have cost us the game. His limitations without the ball are pretty obvious but was very disappointed with him today with the ball. Thought the occasion got to him and certainly he didnt get on the ball as much as he should have.
Westwood 8 - despite his best efforts, without the ball he is almost as ineffective as Bannan. Was part of a midfield destroyed on the counter attack at time. However with the ball I thought he was excellent today. Always looking to get on the ball, great positioning and football intelligence about picking the right pass. He was involved in all our best football. Needs Delph next to him.
Weimann 8 - not in the game at all in the first half. But what leadership he showed in the second half. Another goal but his assist was our best play of the season. The contrast between the guts he showed and the lack that his direction opponent Fabio did was striking
Gabby 8 - shite in the first half, he needed to target Boswinga but instead floated around doing nothing. But the goal woke him up and with Benteke misfiring badly, he showed great leadership in the second half.
Benteke 5 - beaten up a stick by Samba today. Terrible defending on the opening set piece and offered us very little going forward. Still scored the winner and will have learned more today than the last couple of games where he was outstanding.

Bennett 5 - horrible start. tidy player on the ball certainly but too physically weak to be a defender at this level
Nzogbia 7 - slow enough start but soon found space and was involved in the winner with a good pass to Weimann. Bit unlucky to be out of the side at the moment
Bowery - not on long enough

No, no, no. I must have been at a different game.

I appreciate you wrote a lot of words but they are incorrect IMO

tl;dr

[eastie]

Mirror match review-

Christian Benteke eased Aston Villa's relegation fears and pushed bottom-placed QPR nearer to the drop as his late winner settled a pulsating Barclays Premier League clash.

Rangers dominated the opening half at Villa Park and deservedly led through a goal from midfielder Jermaine Jenas, only for Gabriel Agbonlahor to level against the run of play.

Andreas Weimann put the home side ahead early in the second half and, after Andros Townsend made it 2-2, Villa's Austrian striker set up the winner for Benteke.

It was Belgium international Benteke's seventh goal in the last eight league games and took his overall tally to 17 since his £8million summer move from Genk.

For much of the first half, QPR looked like a side brimming with confidence after their back-to-back wins against Southampton and Sunderland.

Only heroics from in-form Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and the woodwork prevented the visitors wrapping up the points before half-time.

Villa seldom posed a threat during the opening 45 minutes, with Christopher Samba winning his aerial battle with Benteke.

But the home side woke up and looked more dangerous after the break with Weimann deserving his goal for an energetic and committed display.

Benteke started to make his presence felt and his winner showed again why manager Paul Lambert believes he has already doubled in value as a Villa player.



Villa knocked the ball around in confident style in the very early stages.

QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar picked up what might have been considered a back-pass from defender Jose Bosingwa, who came under pressure from Agbonlahor, but referee Kevin Friend waved play on.

The visitors stepped up a gear and Guzan made two excellent saves in the space of 60 seconds to keep his side on level terms.

The United States international backpedalled to turn a looping header from Samba over the bar after he had connected with a Bosingwa free-kick.

Then Guzan made an even better save to turn aside another effort from Samba, this time from just inside the box.

QPR midfielder Stephane M'Bia was the first player to be yellow-carded, bringing down Weimann.

Villa were forced into a change after 20 minutes when Nathan Baker appeared to be concussed in an aerial challenge with Samba and he was replaced by Joe Bennett.

The left-back made a shaky entrance into proceedings with his misdirected pass leading to Jermaine Jenas giving QPR the lead after 23 minutes.



Bennett played a square pass just inside his own half which was seized on by Jenas who released Zamora in space.

Zamora's low drive was parried by Guzan but Jenas continued his run into the box and was first to the loose ball to make no mistake from close range.

Villa midfielders Yacouba Sylla and Barry Bannan were booked in quick succession for fouls on Townsend and Weimann for arguing after QPR were awarded a free-kick.

The woodwork came to Villa's rescue when Bosingwa's powerful free-kick struck a post.

But in first-half injury-time Agbonlahor brought the home side level when he peeled off to the far post and headed home a right-wing cross from Matt Lowton.

Villa looked more dangerous after the interval and a Weimann header was tipped over by Cesar from Bennett's cross.

Then after 59 minutes Bennett atoned for his earlier costly error by setting up Weimann for his 11th goal of the season.

The former Middlesbrough player showed good control before supplying the pass to Weimann who cut inside before drilling a low left-footed shot past Cesar from 15 yards.

Lowton could have made it 3-1 but scuffed his shot across the face of goal.

Then with 17 minutes left the impressive Townsend made it 2-2. Loic Remy and Ji-Sung Park combined to tee up Townsend and his shot took a slight deflection as it flew past Guzan.

Villa responded and after 81 minutes Weimann turned goal-maker with his low cross turned in by Benteke after good play by substitute Charles N'Zogbia. This time QPR had no response and they now stand seven points adrift of safety with eight games to play.

[Olof's Beard]

The Ref must be gutted.
His performance requires some serious looking in to.
How he could decide that Bosingwa didn't just roll the ball into the keepers hands is beyond me.
That was just the start of it.
Well done boys. Great 2nd half performance. More of this for the rest of the season.
A few celebratory pints for me are called for tonight.

Yet I have seen QPR fans moaning about the ref not giving them free kicks in the build up to goals.  Joke.

[Somniloquism]

...Snip.....

No, no, no. I must have been at a different game.

I appreciate you wrote a lot of words but they are incorrect IMO

He has made some good points and bad. To pick on the two goals as down to them being shit rather then us having anything to do was a bit disingenuous. But in the first half, we didn't seem to have any shape and players seemed unsure what they needed to do.

[Olof's Beard]

Benteke has 13 in 25 starts now I think this season.  He is playing like Carew did in his hot streaks but with more of a goal threat over a prolonged period of time.

I just wish we could find a Leon Osman or Kevin Nolan type goal threat from midfield as Bannan, Westwood and Delph have zippo goals between them from open play which is pretty pathetic in March.

[Risso]

Guzan was immense today and gave us the platform for the second half come back.  If we can keep Weimann and Benteke as a pairing then they're going to be incredible.  Though young Andi was brilliant today, and our most dangerous player.

[FrankyH]

Can watch MOTD again !
That's got to be one the worst referee's since Uriah Rennie.Twice he let us play the advantage but didn't book the QPR players afterwards.I actually thought Sylla had fouled there player in the build to Gabby's goal, but knew he made that many mistakes he let that one go.

[Karl Bridges]

What a load of old shit.

If you can't do anything but criticise when someone puts their opinion on the forum, why don't you just go somewhere else!

Isn't that just their opinion on those opinions though Achilles?

[PeterWithesShin]

Just got back. So all I have to say is YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS get the fuck in. I love you Villa.

[pauliewalnuts]

What a load of old shit.

If you can't do anything but criticise when someone puts their opinion on the forum, why don't you just go somewhere else!

Isn't that just their opinion on those opinions though Achilles?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you're going to disagree, then ideally, it'd be in a more explanatory and lucid way than just posting "what a load of shit"