Aston Villa vs Leicester City Post Match Thread

[Villafirst]

What was wrong with Gil? Good win at last.

[The Laughing Policeman]

^^^^ Groin strain.

[dave shelley]

Groin strain so they said in commentary.

[PeterWithesShin]

OS

Scott Marshall revealed that new boss Tim Sherwood had input in the dressing room at half-time as Villa ran out 2-1 winners over Leicester.

Goals from Leandro Bacuna and Scott Sinclair ensured progress through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Marshall hailed the players for the "good achievement" of making it into the last eight of the competition against a very resilient Foxes side.

With Villa and Leicester goalless at the break, new boss Sherwood had his say at the break, handing out "good information" to the players who then went on to beat Nigel Pearson's men.

He said: "Getting into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup is a good achievement.

"It was good for the boys to get a win.

"Tim came in and made a couple of points for the lads - a couple of bits and pieces for everyone really.

"I thought the lads delivered that in the second half and were very good.

"He was there and gave some good information to the group. There's a football knowledge there that comes with experience, a lifetime in the game.

"I put across my points for the game and what I thought and what I saw. Then Tim had some input after that.

"It was a few details around the game. It was 'maybe you could try this and maybe you could try that.'

"There was a lot of individual detail there. It was not one sweeping statement.

"The group have been very professional. They have delivered on the pitch and shown a great togetherness and they know they have to take that forward in the league campaign. It starts again next week.

"I think they showed a good spirit. The result was there at the end of it."

Marshall described the last few days as "intense" as the first team coach led the team into action following the departure of Paul Lambert.

He added: "The last three days have been pretty intense.

"I'd like to say I enjoyed the match - I will probably enjoy it later on.

"But certainly it's a good feeling to come out the other end and there was a result there and the boys played very well.

"The focal point has been the game and preparing the group for the game. We've been doing that.

"Andy Marshall has contributed a lot as well as Gordon Cowans and Stuart Taylor from the development squad. It's been a proper pull together from everyone around the group."

Marshall also revealed that Gabby Agbonlahor and Carles Gil missed the game with tight hamstring and tight groin issues respectively.

[Damo70]

Back home already thanks to Mr Sox. First 10-15 mins were good, then half an hour of tripe and a great save from Given. Second half was much better, fully deserved the win even if we did have to make it a nervy last few mins. Cleverley deserves some credit, did well today. Pretty good atmosphere from us considering the KO time, Leicester fans did a good impression of Bournemouth they were so quiet.

More than once in the second half we had a midfielder in the box. What is this sorcery?

PWS - The man behind the welcome reintroduction of the word 'Tripe' into the English language as part of a modern day critique.


PWS: And the man who fixes quotes!

PWS - The man who does a lot of work behind the scenes fixing quotes but doesn't like to take any credit or talk about it much.

Probably does a lot of unsung work for charidee too.

[dekko]

Good lord, Marshall has even less to say than Lambert did

[PeterWithesShin]

Villa ended an eventful week by forgetting their Barclays Premier League worries to storm into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

With new manager Tim Sherwood watching from the stand, Leandro Bacuna broke the deadlock against fellow strugglers Leicester City with a magnificent angled drive in the 68th minute.

Substitute Scott Sinclair increased the lead on 89 minutes with a shot which keeper Mark Schwarzer initially saved but then scooped into his own net - one for the Dubious Goals panel, perhaps?

But the boys in claret and blue won't be worried about that now they are just one step from a Wembley semi-final, despite a 90th-minute Andrej Kramaric header which provided a small consolation for 6,000 travelling Foxes fans.

The home side were well worth their passage to the last eight, dominating for lengthy spells and also having two other efforts disallowed.

Free from the pressure of battling for Barclays Premier League points, both sides displayed plenty of adventure from the start, although clear-cut openings were thin on the ground in the opening 20 minutes.

Alan Hutton's low cross from the right set up Andi Weimann for a right-foot effort which was well over in the sixth minute, while the visitors went close when centre-back Marcin Wasilewski ventured forward to meet a left-wing corner with a glancing header which went just past the far post.

As Villa began to increase the tempo, Christian Benteke worked his way into a shooting position just outside the penalty area, only to mar his excellent approach work by scuffing his left-foot shot.

Even so, Matthew Upson took no chances as he slid in to divert the ball for a corner.

Ashley Westwood's flag kick from the left found Ciaran Clark at the far post, although the central defender was unable to get any power behind his header, allowing Schwarzer to clutch the ball just under the bar.

Then it was Leicester's turn to enjoy a spell of possession, skipper Wes Morgan heading over before a Matty James pile-driver was brilliantly tipped away by the diving Shay Given as it headed towards the top corner.

A minute before half-time, Benteke thought he had fired Villa ahead when he drilled a low right-footer into the bottom corner, but his delight was stifled when Weimann was flagged offside following Bacuna's forward pass.

Villa resumed in positive fashion, Delph sending a header just too high from Bacuna's 47th-minute centre before another Bacuna delivery deflected for a corner.

In the 51st minute, Hutton's looping header picked out Benteke on the six yard box but a glorious chance went begging when the Belgian striker's effort cannoned off Schwarzer's legs.

Delph was the next home player to try his luck, being presented with a shooting opportunity when Bacuna rolled a short free-kick to him on the right-hand edge of the penalty area.

Unfortunately he wasn't able to make a clean connection and his shot drifted harmlessly beyond the far post.

Benteke did much better on the hour mark, his header from Hutton's cross just clearing Schwarzer's right-hand upright - and eight minutes later Villa's dominance was rewarded.

Bacuna collected a short pass from skipper Ron Vlaar on the left and cut into the area before unleashing a superb angled right-foot drive which left Schwarzer helpless as it flew into the far corner.

In the 71st minute Weimann had the ball in the net again, following a fine build-up involving Delph and Benteke, but was ruled offside.

Benteke then raced through the middle to shoot over, although Villa then had a couple of anxious moments as the Foxes were forced to push forward.

Vlaar made a crucial block, while Given dived bravely to tip the ball away from Kramaric's feet.

Villa were close again when Benteke's low shot being held by Schwarzer following a flowing move involving but in the 89th minute it was 2-0.

Sinclair did well to win possession before hitting a low shot which Schwarzer initially saved before contriving to scoop the ball over the line.

A minute later Kramaric met Jeff Schlupp's left-wing cross to plant a header inside Given's near post, but Villa were good value for their victory.

VILLA: Given; Hutton, Vlaar, Clark, Cissokho; Westwood, Delph; Bacuna (Sinclair 76), Cleverley, Weimann (Grealish 82); Benteke. Unused subs: Guzan, Okore, Cole, Sanchez, Lowton.

LEICESTER: Schwarzer; Simpson, Wasilewski (Ulloa 62), Morgan, Upson, Konchesky; Mahrez, James, Cambiasso, Schlupp; Kramaric. Unused subs: Hamer, Hammond, Vardy, King, Albrighton, Moore.

[johnboy]

Haven't felt this good, since that second half against SUnderland, what seems like years ago now.

[Rotterdam Vetran]

Decent 2nd half.Lets hope Given has a run in the first team.Guzan must be the unhappiest man in VP at the moment

[dekko]

Haven't felt this good, since that second half against SUnderland, what seems like years ago now.

It was 

[Villa in Denmark]

This new fangled tactic we came up with of getting midfielders into the box is going to take a bit of getting used to.
Who's next? Hopefully another home tie, we haven't had a home QF since 1960 but I don't think we can blame Lambert for that record.

Well if it confuses us, hopefully it will confuse those who've already scouted us for upcoming games. 

[Monty]

Much bloody better. I don't know how much of it was Sherwood, but if he can get us playing with that intensity in the league games then we should be fine. There are some good players in that team.

I hope he's not tempted to change to a 4-4-2. I thought one thing we had in the second half today was midfielders running on, which is a lot easier to do if you still have midfielders back in position as insurance - in a 4-4-2 it's harder to build momentum like that.

Great pass by Benteke for the Sinclair goal, btw. He had a shaky game but that was something.

[Damo70]

This new fangled tactic we came up with of getting midfielders into the box is going to take a bit of getting used to.
Who's next? Hopefully another home tie, we haven't had a home QF since 1960 but I don't think we can blame Lambert for that record.

Well if it confuses us, hopefully it will confuse those who've already scouted us for upcoming games. 

Another bonus of a change of manager is the probability all previous scouting reports on us will be innacurate.

[Louzie0]

Nice to see Sinclair getting on the scoresheet for us, hopefully the first of many.
Bacuna's goal was class!

[Villa in Denmark]

This new fangled tactic we came up with of getting midfielders into the box is going to take a bit of getting used to.
Who's next? Hopefully another home tie, we haven't had a home QF since 1960 but I don't think we can blame Lambert for that record.

Well if it confuses us, hopefully it will confuse those who've already scouted us for upcoming games. 

Another bonus of a change of manager is the probability all previous scouting reports on us will be innacurate.

Just us attempting to pass the ball forwards will render all previous scouting null and void.