The skipper steals the show with last-minute drama

BY HARRISON PEARCE , Friday 6th October, 11:53

Aston Villa’s second European game against Bosnian side Zrinjski didn’t leave enough to the imagination after a bit of a dull affair as Aston Villa struggled to break the deadlock. After a dominant 2nd half with 72% possession and 25 shots it was a fantastic run from Matty Cash then a pinpoint cross to Super John McGinn as he heads straight past the keeper sending all the villa fans crazy. In his post match interview the skipper was buzzing with his header especially after missing one against England on intentional duty for Scotland. John McGinn scored the goal to get Aston Villa promted, he scored the first goal back in the premier league and he has now scored our first European goal. When Aston Villa need John McGinn he is there. This shows that he is vital to Unai Emery’s team regardless of the position John McGinn plays because he has spent the most time on the right hand side this season and he doesn’t look out of place what so ever.

Aston Villa bringing in great talent late in the transfer window.

The January transfer deadline day was very exciting for all villa fans after singing four exciting players.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, Friday 2nd Febuary, 17:00

On the whole Aston Villa’s January transfer window was quite quiet all things considering but that doesn’t stop the rumour mill going crazy just like every transfer window. It started off with the links of Paulo Dybala and Jereime Frimpong being linked to the club but those are deals any fan would expect to see in the upcoming summer transfer window.

As the transfer window progressed it was looking more likely that Aston Villa were not going to buy much business until we signed an 18 year old Serbian right back called Kosta Nedeljkovic from Red Star Belgrade. Once this signing got completed the rest started to roll through with the likes of Lino Sousa from Arsenal, Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough and Joe Gauci from Adelaide who is currently on international duty at the Asian cup. Gauci will be the understudy to Emi Martinez who you couldn’t have asked for a better goalkeeper to learn off in recent times.

These four new signings are all young and exciting players for the future to help with the squad depth considering all of the competitions Aston Villa feature in during the season.

Aston Villa’s unbelievable display after beating Sheffield United 5-0

Easy win for Aston Villa after scoring three goals in the first twenty minutes to cap off a dominant performance.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, Sunday 4th February, 15:30

When the whistle blow at the start of the game everything felt like it was going Aston Villa’s way. After a few early shots the first goal was scored by John McGinn as he taps it home once the ball perfectly bounces towards him. Four minutes later Ollie Watkins scores the second putting the ball straight into the bottom corner after Douglas Luiz’s outside of the foot assist of the season contender.

Once the score line was 2-0 it always felt like it was going to be a massive mountain to climb for Sheffield utd to get back into this game. Especially after their bad run of form this season which might see them get relegated. The first half ended in a brutal fashion at 4-0 to Aston Villa as an emotional Unai Emery celebration every goal like he’s a boyhood fan. With Sheffield utd fans leaving their seats they must have had enough and amused it was game over.

The 2^nd half started off in the same style after Alex Moreno scores after a few minutes capping the total at 5-0 to the away team. That left Aston Villa in cruise control for the remainder of the game as the players didn’t have to get out of second gear for the whole 90 minutes.

The Holte End is silenced due to lackluster defence

Chelsea shone in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa knocking them out of the fourth round of the FA Cup.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, Thursday 8^th February, 18:00

After such an impressive 5-0 victory over Sheffield Utd at the weekend, most fans would have gone into this Chelsea game with the utmost confidence. However, it couldn’t have been further from the truth as Chelsea came out all guns blazing after Conor Gallagher scored a thunderbolt strike into the top corner. Even though it was a fantastic assist from Nicolas Jackson it was slightly unfortunate for Martinez not getting his hand to the ball.

Nicolas Jackson’s night gets even better after scoring a header making those 8 goals in all competitions this season. Jackson’s goal ratio this season must get Chelsea fans second-guessing themselves about needing a new striker in the summer.

Enzo Fernandez scored a Worldie free kick to cause some more misery for the Aston Villa fans. Fernandez’s celebration of the third goal raised some eyebrows after he held up his Chelsea shirt trying to express his love for the club and communicate that he doesn’t want to leave.

Diaby managed to pull one goal back for Aston Villa after striking the ball from outside the box. This goal was a late constellation and didn’t help Aston Villa get back into the game. Even though Aston Villa showed some fighting spirit towards the end of the game it was too late to produce the impossible.

Leaving Aston Villa to concentrate on the Manchester Utd game and hopefully end this recent bad run of form.

Manchester Utd brings the gap into touching distance

Man United’s top-four aspirations are still alive after beating Aston Villa 2-1 with only six points behind Tottenham.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, Tuesday 13^th February, 13:30

Scott Tominay came off the bench in the 86^th minute to score a late header alongside Harry Maguire putting in a real captain performance. After the second goal went in you could tell the momentum was shifting as Aston Villa had 23 shots with 10 on target but just showed a lack of ruthlessness in front of the goal.

After a controversial decision to award Man United a corner, Harry Maguire leaps to win the header to provide Rasmus Hojlund with a clear opportunity to make it 1-0 which is exactly what the striker does after putting the ball through Emi Martinez’s legs.

Aston Villa slowly but surely grew into the game after a bad opening 15 minutes they looked the more dominant side looking to create an equalizer which saw plenty of opportunities from Jacob Ramsey just going wide of the target. This was a match of set pieces as Douglas Luiz scored from a corner connecting well with Leon Bailey’s ball into the box in the 67^th minute. The highlight of the game was Luiz’s shimmy celebration as he tried to embarrass Onana but I suppose he had the last laugh at the final whistle.

On the whole Aston Villa’s defence stayed strong throughout the game with Diego Carlos putting in some good challenges in key moments after losing the ball. There were times when the high line was causing the defence problems leading to their forward players counter-attacking all at once.

It was just the other end of the pitch where Aston Villa couldn’t score a goal even if everybody played another full 90 minutes. It has just been announced that Leon Bailey has signed a new long-term contract at Aston Villa where he was one of the shining lights in the second half and could have contributed to the game if he wasn’t subbed off.

It was written in the stars that Man United was going to get something out of this game given the recent record between the two clubs which sees Aston Villa only beating the Red Devils once in the last 21 games. This annoying record always gives Man United hope of winning the game even if Aston Villa were looking more threatening for large amounts of time.

Man United’s win against Aston Villa means that there are only five points between the two clubs which plays into Man United’s favor with their recent good form in the league. Aston Villa on the other hand need to find a way how to get out of this slump sooner rather than later. However, that might not be the case as Kamara has picked up an ACL injury which could see him out for the rest of the season.

Watkins proves why he’s so important to Emery’s system

Aston Villa got back to winning ways against Fulham, proving that the top-four dream is still alive.

BY Harrison Pearce, Sunday 18th February, 15:00

Aston Villa faced off against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday where the away team looked right at it coming away with a 2-1 victory. The opening of the game looked quite even as both teams had a few missed opportunities until Jacob Ramsey pouched on a tackle in the 23rd minute to create a golden chance that Ollie Watkins couldn’t miss.

Once the first goal went in Aston Villa looked like the team that was going to control the game with ease especially with the return of Pau Torres back from injury after a few weeks out of action. With some fans worrying about Aston Villa’s recent injuries to Bobucar Kamara and Diego Carlos this was a massive boost to the starting eleven as the Spanish centre-back had the most passes completed in the game (56) in total.

You can see the effect Pau Torres has on this Aston Villa side because he is so reassuring on the ball which makes such a difference as he brings the ball out from the defence to help dominate the game. This is something we saw straight away with Pau Torres being involved in the second goal as one of the Fulham players wasn’t tracking the centre-back’s run with the ball which allowed him to find Luiz. From this passing play a few seconds later Tielemans produces a perfect assist as Watkins fires the ball into the back of the net.

The game was filled with controversial decisions as Watkins scored a disallowed goal within the first 15 minutes meaning he could have been on a hat trick. Especially if you take into consideration the penalty claim as Diop brought down the Villa striker in the box.

There was also a second disallowed goal before the penalty incident where Alex Moreno scored a header off a corner set play. There was an uproar from the players and supporters because VAR decided that Leon Bailey was offside even though he wasn’t involved in the buildup. It must have been frustrating for the players considering Moreno’s foot was behind the Fulham defender Tim Ream but ultimately didn’t cause too much of a disturbance to the game.

A lack of communication between Lenglet and Martinez caused Fulham to get a sneaky goal which got them back into the game. The last 30 minutes were defiantly exciting but nervous times for Aston Villa fans as they were on the edge of their seats hoping that the villains could keep hold onto all 3 points.

Watkins proved once again why he is the crown in the jewel for this Aston Villa side as he broke his goal-scoring record with 18 goals in all competitions. Watkins is pivotal to how Unai Emery wants to play and there isn’t much better than him in the premier league at the moment.

This win shoots Aston Villa straight back into the top four and it is there’s for the taking with the team being 5 points ahead of Manchester Utd who are in 6th place and 2 points ahead of Tottenham in 5^th place.

Even though Aston Villa has been an outside shout of achieving the top four this season there are some doubts due to all the injuries as Emery has dealt with all the setbacks incredibly so far. The best way to prove the doubters wrong but be to take every game as it comes with aiming their sights onto Nottingham Forest for the next game.

If you look at Newcastle getting into the Champions League last season, then maybe it could be Aston Villa’s year to disturb the traditional top six clubs in the premier league.

Aston Villa win in dramatic fashion

Douglas Luiz stands out as he scores two goals against Nottingham Forest to win 4-2 

BY Harrison Pearce, Sunday 25th February, 13:00

From minute one it looked like Aston Villa’s game for the taking. After an impressive start to the game Ollie Watkins scored the first goal making it 19 for the season in all competitions. Leon Bailey provided an assist of the season contender. For the first goal as he skipped past Murrio and put the ball through the legs of another defender. This gave the Villa striker an easy tap in at Villa park. 

Douglas Luiz was one of the star performers in this match as he contributed two goals in the game playing in a more defensive role while Kamara is out injured. Luiz got his first goal in the 29th minute as his perfectly timed run into the box helped him to open up space to take a shot against Matt Turner in goal for Nottingham Forest. 

Aston Villa left where they took off in the 2nd half after a superb delivery into the box from McGinn gave Luiz the opportunity to head home which made it 3-1. Nottingham Forests found their way back into the game scoring two goals. However, it was a little too late at that point because Bailey and Watkins connection continued to flourish ending the game 4-2. 

Callum Chambers got substituted onto the pitch for Pau Torres where the majority of fans were pleased with his performance showing why he is great to have in the squad. Emery revealed in his press conference that “Chambers can leave the club if he wants to” Games like these will be vital for Chambers moving forward as he wanted to stay and fight for a place in the starting XI. 

There were a few defensive mistakes during the game which led to Aston Villa conceding two goals so you can count on Emery to be on the training ground expressing his desire to cut that out of there next game. 

Aston Villa win 4 – 0 against Ajax

Aston Villa qualify to the next round of European competition for the first time since 1998.

BY Harrison Pearce, Friday 15th March, 13:00

Aston Villa made history on Thursday night with an impressive 4-0 win against Ajax in the Europa conference league. After an even 0-0 draw in the first leg Aston Villa knew they needed to perform to their high standard to progress into the next round. 

They certainly did that with Ollie Watkins opening the scoreline with a header. This was a few minutes after an incident with Ajax’s goalkeeper resulting in Watkins having to be subbed off for Jhon Duran.

It was definitely the right decision to start Bailey because his constant press and skills down the right hand side caused the Ajax defender to lose his footing and allowed Bailey to score with his weaker right foot. 

Duran was back to his lively self with a few attempts at goal not going his way until he scored on the 75th minute, making it 3-0 at Villa park. Diaby topped off the game with a fourth goal proving why he is a threat to this Aston Villa side. The french intentional who has been recently recalled to the team was a shining light in this game, adding value to the forward line.

Maybe this was Unai Emery’s master plan all along through aiming for a draw at the Johan cruyff arena which allowed the manager to go full strength at home. This victory will give Aston Villa an extra boost as they need to continue there form tocontinue to progress in the Europa conference league and achieve top four.

Bellingham proving why he’s the leader for England

England beat Serbia 1-0 in a not-so-memorable fashion but managed to get the job done, nevertheless.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, MONDAY 17^TH JUNE, 12:45

England won their first group game in Euro 2024 after winning 1-0 against Serbia as the new star boy for Real Madrid Jude Bellingham ran late into the box and scored a headed goal past the Serbian keeper something Frank Lampard would be proud of seeing.

With a very predictable lineup coming out from Gareth Southgate considering some of the injuries and rumors ahead of the game, there was one man everybody was interested in watching and that was Jude Bellingham who shone with a real man-of-the-match performance.

There was one player that split many people’s opinions in yesterday’s game which was Trent Alexander-Arnold playing in that midfield role because there were times where it worked nicely with his link-up with Bellingham playing those through balls into his feet. However, there were times when Trent got caught out by Serbia’s forwards pressing him so Southgate will need to find that balance between allowing Trent to pass the ball forward or playing it back to defence when he is in trouble.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if Gareth Southgate chooses that number eight role in those big games further down the line in the tournament because if they make those same mistakes to a more dominant side then they won’t think twice about punishing England.

There were moments of magic in the game, but it wasn’t a vintage performance by any stretch as it felt like Kane and Foden were slightly off the mark in terms of finding each other and creating any promising goal-scoring opportunities after Kane only two touches in the first half.

The right-hand side felt the more composed of the two with Saka providing the cutting edge to assist Bellingham. Then once Saka came off in the second half Bowen made an instant impact with a fantastic ball in the box as Kane was unlucky to score. Bowen is an amazing addition to bring off the bench in games, especially with his proven track record with West Ham over the recent years.

Overall, England didn’t disappoint as getting the early three points on board will be highly positive going into the next game against Denmark. This win will cause a huge celebration with many England fans singing It’s coming home until the whole tournament is finished.

It’s like Douglas Luiz never left

Youri Tielemans earned himself a man of the match after Aston Villa announced themselves back into the Champions League.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, THU 19^TH SEPTEMBER, 10:30

Aston Villa performed stellar to beat Young Boys 3-0 in the Champions League. After a slow start to the game with Young Boys looking like the more natural team out on the heavily discussed astro pitch, the Aston Villa players finally woke up and scored the first goal to break the deadlock through a Youri Tielemans set piece.

Youri Tielemans scored Aston Villa’s first goal in the Champions League for 41 years and didn’t put a foot wrong all night. A lot of fans were questioning Douglas Luiz getting sold and not bringing in an adequate replacement but giving Tielemans more of a pivotal role in the team was probably a part of Emery’s master plan all along.

The second goal came in quick succession after a scramble in the box between Watkins and their goalkeeper led to Ramsey getting his debut goal in the Champions League.

There was some scrutiny from the Aston Villa fans as two controversial moments led to two disallowed goals as the Watkins and Duran goals were ruled out for handball. The first handball looked like the right decision, but for the second, the players were trying to argue that when Onana handballed it, so much more could have happened in between the lead-up to Duran’s goal.

The official third goal was scored by Onana in the last minutes of the game, where his shot from outside the box went straight past the goalkeeper. Onana has scored three goals for the season, making that he needs one more to be level with his tally from last season.

Aston Villa couldn’t have asked for a better start into the Champions League and now the real test will begin against Bayern Munich at Villa Park on the 2^nd of October.

Liam Delap puts on a show to kick Aston Villa in the teeth

Ipswich Town played incredibly well to get a dramatic equalizer right at the death of the game against Aston Villa.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, TUESDAY 1^ST OCTOBER, 6:45 PM

Ipswich Town drew 2-2 against Aston Villa at Portman Road during the early kick-off on Sunday. Ipswich Town took an early lead by taking their chance perfectly after Konsa’s misplaced pass, causing the tracker boys to score the first goal of the game thanks to Liam Delap.

Aston Villa very quickly turned the tide around through an Ipswich defensive clearance, allowing Rogers to get his scoring tally off the mark for the new season. Once the equalizer went in to make it 1-1 Aston Villa was looking like the more dominant team with the ball.

This was proved correct after a center-forwards dream cross into the box meant Watkins could finish his header with absolute ease as he leaped over the Ipswich defender to put Aston Villa in the lead for the first time in the game.  

Even though Aston Villa went into the second half leading 2-1, that didn’t discourage the Ipswich forwards one bit after Jack Clarke and Liam Delap was a huge threat in the final third all afternoon. These two in particular were causing Martinez some real problems at times in that game, which could have seen Delap score a hattrick if it wasn’t for Martinez’s starfish acrobatic save.

The equalizer came from another misplaced pass down that right-hand side when Konsa couldn’t find his man which left a massive gap for Delap to run into and ultimately slot the ball past Martinez.

You must give a lot of praise to Ipswich Town because they were impressive, and their home form might be the difference maker to help them stay up this season. Either way, they have acquired some astute signings, so even if they fall short, then the tractor boys will have a great chance of getting straight back up if their most important players stick around.

Emery needs to consider changing that right-hand side because the disconnect between the right back and right winger was clear to see, as there wasn’t enough tracking back to support the defender. The injury to Cash is a concern because Konsa must play right back even though his natural position is in the middle.

Aston Villa went unbeaten during the whole month of September so let’s see if they can keep that momentum moving forward as they face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday and Manchester United on Sunday.

Written in the stars

It was the loudest night Villa Park has heard for 41 years since they last beat Bayern Munich to lift the Champions League in 1982.

BY HARRISON PEARCE, WEDNESDAY 2^ND OCTOBER, 10:30

Nights don’t get much better as Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at Villa Park in the second Champions League game back into the competition. The Aston Villa defence had to be 100% spot on tonight to stop Bayern Munich’s threatening forwards and that’s exactly what happened.

Bayern were dominating possession where that first pass for Villa to win it back is so important to try and put a stamp on the game. Emery is at his best when he is an underdog so he will know exactly how to set up his time tonight.

Upacameo made a lot of mistakes in the Champions League last season so I wonder if Emery would target that as one of Bayern’s weaknesses. The French international should potentially have been sent off as he didn’t get booked for the first foul. Watkins was causing him trouble all night every time he dropped the shoulder.

After a scramble in the box, Pau converts the ball into the back of the net after Philogene brings the ball down beautifully. The villa faithful were buzzing in the stands however, the goal got ruled out by VAR after Ramsey was offside causing the Villa fans disappointed.

In the second half the game was more entertaining than the scoreline describes as both teams provided a well-fought battle until the incredible sweeper stopper in Neuer was caught out by Aston Villa’s new cult hero this season Jhon Duran who chipped the ball over the German keeper.

Duran delivered when his team needed him the most as he has done that time and time again this season. Duran’s celebration is becoming quite a regular thing around the team as he confidently bobs his head towards the fans. Pau was excellent in that move to find the striker in open space as the ball-playing defender was doing that all night long.

Villa Park was bouncing all game but especially after that goal went it as the fans were waiting in anticipation for that final whistle to blow. Martinez could have had egg on his face if he conceded after his dark arts at the end of the game. The Argentian deserves all the praise keeping Villa in the game with some absolute Brilliant saves.

The Aston Villa defence had a complete turnaround from last Sunday’s game against Ipswich Town as they have proved they can compete with the European elite teams. Every single player must have thrived off the atmosphere tonight after the 12th man truly came alive, roaring from minute one.