The Villain fails to outwit The Fox

Article by Luke Heyes

Like every good film, a football match is always as good as its Villain! But with only one shot on target and another impotent, unconvincing display in front of goal, ‘the villains’ on this occasion failed to take advantage of a team who, despite taking the three points, still sit rooted to the foot of the premier league. Paul Konchesky who has failed to score a league goal in ‘1945’ days of football, fired Leicester into the lead on the stroke of half time and while this result for the home team boosts their hopes of Premier League survival, Aston Villa are once again in danger of being dragged like rag dolls into the relegation zone.

The first half was a feisty end-to-end encounter which saw Villa for most periods, look at ease on the ball. Joe Cole again was instrumental and the catalyst for the majority of Villa’s attacking threat: he deserved to be in the starting eleven today. It was Leicester though who carved more openings in the first period. David Nugent fired wired from an Albrighton cross on thirteen minutes and should really have scored. Nugent was again involved on the half hour mark when a deflected Knockaert cross found its way into his path only to be headed wide and when he hit the crossbar on fourty two minutes with a superb half-valley, Leicester fans were probably thinking it was going to be one of those days. Deservedly though, the foxes managed to snatch the lead just before the halftime whistle through an aggressive eighteen yard volley that beat Guzan at his near post. The scorer, Paul Konchesky, must have been relieved.

Villa battled in the second half and had neat triangles of play within short-lived moments of pressure. Tom Cleverly came close to netting his first Villa goal from a Joe Cole corner but diverted his shot wide. Guzan made a string of fine saves keeping Villa in the game and Mark Albrighton, a homegrown Villa player, proved to be a thorn in Villa’s side throughout the match. The game drew to a close and ended on a sour note. Matty James was shown the red card for a poorly timed tackle on Okore and Ciaran Clarke was dismissed for a second yellow card for his volatile reaction; arguably the only time a Vila player looked like winning a fight. Benteke stole the show against Blackpool last week in the last remaining minutes and Villa fans might have thought the big Belgian would once again come to their rescue but his late header was only to be in vain. Michael Oliver blew the full time whistle to alleviate any tension felt within the Leicester dugout and Villa fans were once again left disgruntled as they left the King Power Stadium and prepared themselves for a deflated return back to B6.

The pressure continues to mount on Paul Lambert as fan patience appears to be exhausted. Some commiseration has to be given to the Scot who is adapting his methods and expanding his tactics on a limited budget but until Villa start to find the back of the net, the fans will remain restless and hostile. Lambert vows not to ‘roll over’ in his quest to make Aston Villa the club they once used to be and post-match, he did acknowledge that ‘we need creative lads to help the group’. Whether he was alluding to the possibility of Scott Sinclair signing for the club or under-performing players pulling their weight is little to be seen. What is clear though, is that Villa are in desperate need of invention. Poor Benteke! Just a little bit of service to satisfy that impetuous desire would be nice.

The pins and needles still remain!

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