Villa notched their first victory in Italy by somehow conjuring up a 3-1 win over Bologna. As Emery admitted, and all of us saw, it was hardly a vintage performance, and never matched the scoreline. But the final tally is all that counts.
Ollie got two and Konsa bagged the opener out of nowhere. At the same time, Forest earned a 1-1 draw away to Porto. So today’s match may well be a semifinal rehearsal. It’s also a rather important league match for both sides.
In Bologna, Villa struggled with the tight and aggressive marking. They didn’t string a lot together. They also played it long fairly frequently. Bologna, looking tidy, comfy and very industrious were probably shocked to find themselves trailing at the interval. But that’s football for you, and one hopes it restored a little confidence, not least in Ollie. Sometimes that ineffable “we’re going to find a way,” feeling is everything. The two-goal cushion, restored at the death of extra time, is just what Villa needed. That one reminded me of the late PSG goal that ultimately pushed that tie just out of reach.
Today, despite relative parity in European play, the sides find themselves at opposite ends of the table, where they’ve been most of the season. Villa, with City playing Chelsea today, have a chance to go nine clear of sixth place. With fifth now assured of playing Champions League football, there are worse places to be.
For their part, Forest are sitting just two points above the drop zone with everyone wondering whether De Zerbi can turn Spurs around.
So there’s a lot to play for, obviously. Despite January’s 3-1 win, Forest will be no pushovers.
In team news, Emery is changing it up a bit by starting Lindelof and Barkley. Otherwise, it’s what you’d expect.
Martinez; Cash, Lindelof, Pau, Digne; Onana, Barkley, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers; Watkins.
With Luiz, Buendia and Abraham on the bench, Emery probably has just enough to change things if it’s not going well.
And naturally we’ll be pulling for Ollie to bag his 100th for Villa today.
Over to you.
Bologna Halftime, Forest Next
Martinez injured in the warm-up. Again. So it’s Bizot in the rain.
Forest looking for their first league win under the new manager. Oh dear!
With all the changes, I’d forgotten about that.
Very tidy that from Murillo.
Cross hard and low from the wing. How old school is that!
FFS…just clear the lines
Looked cool calm and assured for the first half hour then went all floppy. Hope they can stiffen their resolve for the second half.
Yeah, they were starting to feel it, but got a bit too cute. Rogers, great strike, but needs to cut out the turnovers.
WN2 saved us there.
Oh, thought he’d scored there. Lucky the other end, nice reaction from Bizot.
Got faith in Lindelof but I wish we had Mings to keep a lid on Wood.
100%
Rogers having a mare, tbh
Ditto Rogers.
Villa getting very messy. No subs worth putting on?
Putting ourselves under so much pressure
Can’t argue about the subs – esp Rogers.
Despite the messy play, we’ve opened up such good chances that we’ve fluffed.
Shame, I probably consider that two dropped, but a draw is always better than a loss.
Scruffy and scrappy end of season game but each point is gold dust in our position plus no injuries and minimal waste of energy before Thursday eurocrap game.
Sadistic pleasure in Spurs sinking deeper into the crap so Forrest are welcome to that point.
Enjoyed Lindelof cool calm and KISS performance. Typical bustling and duff them over performance from SJM, my POTM.
Flipping heck – I think I’ve just been positive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watching Chelsea getting rinsed by Citeh wasn’t bad either. Come Leeds to morrow night!!
Agree with John, two points dropped in my book. A scrappy performance but we did fashion 3 great chances in front of goal and sky’d them all. Williams was their best player today. Real shame we never had an electric RW to keep him anchored at the back. Instead Cash copped another challenging game.
The crap going on with WN1?? Does he know something we don’t. It’s happened too many times now. You can’t be fit when the team sheet goes in 1 hour before KO and then be unfit at KO.
But we must be grateful for the 1 point though. At this stage of the season, any point is gold dust and difficult to pocket. Look at the Wai Ayes today. And Spurs Hahaha.
Thought Unai might have brought some fresh legs on a bit sooner when we started to come under severe pressure. Not one of Onana’s better games. Likewise Rogers and Barks who both started blowing well before they were changed. T’mans has a great pass in him, we’ve missed those during his absence.
It was strange that Forest stood off us first half and never pressed. We have seen teams press us relentlessly from the get go with great results and yet not Forest. It allowed us to get established in the game. Perhaps they’ve been watching Bologna doing it to us and seeing a 1-3 score line.
2 points dropped but better than a defeat. You just get the feeling that they won’t put this top 5 spot to bed before the last day…
And to be fair to Emery, when you compare our squad to the others, it is an uphill battle.
Roll on the back-to-back home games and let’s hope for some more presents from our competitors
Henry, after the Chelsea result it turned out to be 1 point gained. We always do things the hard way. How about fighting for P3 rather than P5? At about £3.2m per place, it would be worth taking.
Yeah I had been hoping that the eminently gettable 3rd place was going to be grabbed by the lads, but I’ve given up on that.
I have also been thinking about the age profile of the squad. Assuming Ollie/Tammy start scoring regularly, this team has one maybe two more seasons competing at this level, before a rebuild is needed, or they slide back into mid table.
From a PSR perspective, wouldn’t it be better to do zero business this summer (aside from flogging the cast-offs) then give Emery a free hand the following summer? I’d much rather have kept Ramsey and saved ourselves from Guessand, Sancho and Elliot…
At some point, it’s just a money washing scheme
Agreed. On the PSR topic, I think we’re good as far as the EPL are concerned, it’s the UEFA SCR one that’s killing us. As it’s based on revenue, we do need to raise the income levels and our future is tied to UEFA competitions going forward.
And just finally on the game, I only saw the final 35 minutes, but I’ve been calling for Rogers to be rested/subbed for a while. He looks shattered, he kept miss-controlling the ball…
I really like his attitude, I’d actually have him as a vice captain, he never hides from the ball or responsibility, but maybe being subbed will help him back into form, because we will need him on form to achieve CL football
He has played a lot of minutes…never mind the speculation that’s probably affecting his mindset. Against Forest he looked a lot like he did at the beginning of the season.
And now MU drop three points at home and lose potentially two defenders to suspension for a while. Our one point is still a little disappointing, but we gained ground against them and Chelsea. Level on points for third and seven points above sixth. It’s a pretty nice spot to be in with 6 to play; our fate is in our hands … er … feet. Three points at home against Sunderland on Sunday grabs onto CL qualification even tighter. UTV
You do have to take it in context. Three would’ve been much better, but as you say, we still gained ground. While it looked like all ills had been corrected with the sackings at Chelsea and United, they haven’t necessarily. In Chelsea’s case it’s a bit criminal, given the talent they have.
Hope Manure have had their successful spell and it’s now worn off a little. I’m greedy, want P3. Yep, Chelsea’s status is criminal given their expenditure. What a bickering bunch they appear to be. But they remain dangerous and I’m still keeping a close eye on their results. Thought last Sept that their long run in that World Club fiasco in US might cost them come the run in. Hoping that’s the case.
Ref is a bit whistle happy. The first 10 minutes have all been about the ref.
Another left foot hard and low cross from Rogers on the left. Another virtual tap in from Ollie. Happy days?
They save a pen but Buendia squirms one in off the left within a minute.
So far so good enough. I’d save Rogers (and McGinn if we’re brave) for Sunday.
This ref hasn’t got a single call right so far
Rogers left foot hard and low arrowed into the goal from the left. Rogers looking good again.
Usual rubbish first half performance by Villa. We are only 3 goals up. Come on Villa, pull your fingers out!
The ref is a pregnant goldfish.
Got the feeling that Bologna have confused themselves with some sort of tactical tweak. They just seem disjointed. Can they do any worse in the 2nd half?
Of course that’s the half I had to miss. But very pleased to Ollie, Emi, and Morgan all on the scoresheet.
WHY BAILEY??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I thought it would be a good idea to power down a bit to save legs and inconvenient bookings but why give them a chance and wheel out Bailey?
Another huge boost . Onana subbed off fit for Sunday.
Outrageous pirouette and score from Konsa.
Great minds, they say. David Platt-esque
Outrageous finish from Ezri.
Very good performance. Hopefully a boost for the confidence. Everyone fit apart from Bouba, hopefully we can go on a run now. A couple more wins in the league and we’ve got a few fingers on fifth place.
Unai Emery, 3 consecutive European cup runs, elite level manager
Yeah…it gets old saying it, but this really is all down to him. The players obviously have to execute, sometimes better or worse, and there is some talent, but the whole system just keeps holding. To be in fourth, level on points with third, and in a Euro semi with this squad? That’s next level.
I can’t believe anyone else is being entertained for MOTY. But of course he’ll get overlooked.
Swings and roundabouts. We picked their pockets and outrageously robbed them in the first leg. Completely obliterated them in the second leg. This eurocrap thing is easy. YAWN!
Going to be traveling tomorrow through Monday, so likely won’t get to watch a replay of the 1st half. I’m very curious to see what might have been different from the first leg.
Regardless, that’s four straight over Bologna, CL and Europa. As tight as it might have seemed in the first leg, we got back to taking our chances. Fingers crossed that Ollie and Rogers both bagging sets us up for the run-in and semis.
Not too hot on tactics, patterns of play and XG but here goes. We played our game as developed over 4 years and we were also on song. They did not play their game, Apparantly they inverted their full backs to deal with our inverted number 10s so that they could tackle them with their stronger foot when our 10s came inside. This apparantly bamboozled their players, disrupted their usual automatic patterns of play and even better, isolated Rowe so he had no chance to mess us up.
CLEAR AS MUD – OK?
THE VILLA BOYS FROM ASTON……WE TRAVEL NEAR AND FAR……
A case of The Italian Job done. These are the nights you remember. Villa Park under the lights. Packed to the rafters. Crowd baying for blood. Bologna put to the sword. It was a raucous and rowdy VP. Bologna fans came in their numbers and were treated to some excellent Birmingham hospitality. Take one, two, three, four.
As mentioned above. Unai Emery is an elite manager. He fashioned this result. Our first goal was a thing of beauty. Buendia to Rogers to Ollie for a tap in and his 100th Villa goal. Then came the penalty. Didn’t notice it in real time although folks around me did. Judging by the time the ref was at the monitor, he didn’t seem convinced and I thought we might be just playing on. But no, SJM had the ball and at the last second handed it to Rogers to help him break his drought. It was saved and the following in defender booted it out for a throw in which was delivered to Buendia. He jinked towards goal and did what the pundits tell you never to do, aim for the near post. Not stopping there, Rogers then also went for the near post with the same result. Konsa as we all know is brilliant at doing a pirouette when in possession. This time he scored a goal rather than put us in trouble.
The ref seemed to be giving the sympathy vote to Bologna every time. He had a poor game overall. But no complaints when your team is so far ahead in the tie.
So it’s Forest next. We MUST beat them.
One other word about the ref. He kept his yellow cards in his pocket for which we are grateful. Everyone except Kamara available for the semi as things stand.
Also, take a look at the UEFA coefficients rankings. We are up to P20 above Manure now. As the coefficient is a total over the last 5 years, next season many of the teams above us will drop as their totals from 5 years ago will disappear. As we don’t have any to drop for another 2 years, we will be much higher at the start of next season. Great news for our Value Pillar earnings from UEFA. Top job done by Unai Emery alone.
SJM wrong foot cross from right wing to far post for easy unmissable nod in for Ollie. Sunderland caught cold and sliced apart inside 3 minutes.
Villa sliced apart in 8th minute. Guess what, young Sunderland player scores his first career goal against guess who. They are duffing us up.
They deserve their placing. Well coached, good on the ball, executing well. Nicely built team. Also in a great spot having accomplished more than they’d hoped for…no extra games, nothing to lose.
Fab Ollie header rammed in from middle pen area. Set up by Rogers twisting their defenders inside out on the left wing then a surgical through ball to give Maatsen a clear crossing chance to Ollie. Sunderland were easily keeping us under their thumb till Rogers woke up to give Ollie an easy unmissable (tongue in cheek) chance.
Sunderland were easily our match till a bit of Rogers left wing wizardly play led to our 2nd goal. Think their heads have dropped a bit. Hope we don’t go into dozy complacent energy saving mode.
Was disappointed to see us concede that quickly and squander such a good start. Equally encouraged to see the calm professionalism to get it back on our terms. Great to see Ollie firing and players combining.
Sunderland are really tidy and they’re a good example why the league is so hard.
Get in, Morgan!
Bugger!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Missed 3rd goal – but I got caffeine.
McGinn player of the season so far. Dragged us thru the first 3 months when no one else felt like bothering and has pulled the lads back together since his return to fitness.
Would’ve like to see Barkley off 5 minutes earlier, he’s been blowing for a while. No need to over-do the subs (please no Bailey!) Maybe Bogarde and Luiz for Youri and Onana
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dozy complacent mode personified. 2 effing goals in less than a minute. Now we are hanging on.
Wot a giveaway!
WN1 prevents complete collapse then SUPERKEV poaches a goal from the clearance.
Thank god, Tammy.
I can’t imagine a worse sub than Sancho has been. Emi might’ve just saved CL aspirations.
Good lord…had that so put to bed, two disastrous turnovers. They were offering nothing, we’d taken the wind completely out of theirs sails and spurned chances to make it a rout. Enter Sancho.
I was so mad I’d have pulled him off and played with 10.
What price Ollie flubbing his hat trick?
What price Sancho out Baileying Bailey weakly giving the ball away twice in a minute resulting in 2 giveaway goals.
What price Emery being complacent and cocky with his subs?
What price that titanic save from WN1? Has there ever been such a consequential save?
WN1 player of my match. End of!
I wish Ollie had a little bit of what Emiliano Martinez has got – he would be on 40 goals.
I had visions of WC Emi as the player bore down. That was a massive world-class save.
Wow. Speechless. A point would’ve been good enough for CL but still a missed opportunity. To almost lose…
May be a blessing in disguise, if reads the riot act, a few may get the message that they aren’t good enough to half-arse it for even one minute.
Glad for Ollie, even more pleased for Tammy.
One hand on top 5 now…roll on next week and let’s nail this run-in!
We’re usually USELESS after a week off, so hopefully Unai is like a man possessed this week and they come out playing like they mean it against Fulham. There will be a few bricking it in the dressing room right now…
Only Sancho needs to brick it. Something soft in his head a bit like Stan Colleymore. That one disasterous minute is a red flag the size of a planet warning us not to even contemplate trying to sign him. Emery should have a word with himself about the subs. We’ve got a whole week off, no need to fix what wasn’t broken.
That was a season defining 3 points. Ollie in top form scoring a double.
And it was very nearly a monumental SNAFU. Can’t believe that I am still frothing at the mouth.
Just smack my bottom and call me FREM!
It was season defining. It was also exhibit A of why our goal difference is so low. Another game that should’ve been a 3-0 cruise
I’m not going to blame Emery for bringing Sancho on, unless it’s the general criticism of bringing on too many subs. Sancho has played at big clubs, not coming from League Two. Though maybe that would be better. You have every right as a manager to expect him to come in and play 10-15 mins of ‘don’t fuck it up’ football.
Sumderland had gone so limp until that turnover. But Villa really do need to protect players, keep the others focused.
I’m also angry with Sancho for robbing me and team of the feeling of superiority and poise that had been established.
But as noted, it does give Emery something to coach and criticize. And there’s the confidence boost that we can find late winners.
Yeah because over the whole 97 minutes, we were absolutely the best team. It could’ve been the first act of a “controlled”, to use Emery’s favourite word, successful end to the year. Instead, the game descended into chaos and almost despair.
OLLIE WATKINS DU DU DU DU……..You could say he was a head case!! Two great crosses, two great headers.
Annoyed that we let them score so easily after we took an early lead. And I thought the opposition looked quite tidy as John has mentioned above. But I lightened up after Ollie’s second and at HT thought we were lucky to be ahead. Mood improved another level when Ollie played in Rogers straight after HT. Thereafter we took control at 3-1 and the game won……
FUCKING RAGING AFTER THROWING THE WIN AWAY.
Happy enough with the subs on 80 minutes but I hate with a vengeance our ability to go into passive relaxation and lose concentration. I was rabid with Cash on 86 minutes for trying to pass it to Sancho instead of launching it down the wing to clear the lines. There’s nothing wrong with a big boot when you’re holding a 2 goal lead with 4 minutes left.
Then Sancho repeated his trick and I went full fucking tonto…….
SELF INFLICTED SUICIDE. HOW TO THROW A UCL PLACE UNFOLDED.
Worse was to come. Diarra broke clean through a defence that had been stunned and lost its shape. You could have driven a coach and horses through it. He tried to chip the WN1 who got his finger tips to it and prevented 3-4 along with a full scale melt down. That was our UCL place right there at that moment…..
RAGE TURNS TO UNDILUTED ECSTACY.
The WN1 launches the ball forward. A cross is played in. Tammy gets a touch and bedlam breaks out in the stands. All senses lost. My heart cannot take such treatment. We had to win the game a second time and the 3 points gained are massive. It was only later that I imagined what the proceedings might have done to the Chelsea fans and team. A 10 point gap with 15 points left to play for is a chasm. Let’s get another 3 points at Fulham next weekend.
Guessing Unai will immensely angry with the finale events. Even after grabbing back the win. Sancho didn’t enter the fray with his mind on the job. In this league, you need to know where the passes are before you receive the ball so that a quick release can be played. No time to dawdle and get caught in possession.
After a load of mogadons to calm me down, I’ll try a few celebratory beers and hope they don’t react with the pills.
Hahaha. Great summary and entertaining commentary
I’ve recovered now after Villa put me through the mincer along with all Villa fans at VP and watching around the world not to mention those of our nearest competitors in the EPL. Would I have it any other way? Yep, keeping the 3-1 score line would have done me nicely.
We have now scored 4 goals in each of our last 2 games. That tells me we are coming out of our poor run and hopefully starting on a good one for the remaining games. Looking at everyone’s remaining fixtures, P3 looks very possible. Achieve it and we bank £10 million more from the EPL than last season. Much needed.
There’s no doubt the returning T’mans and SJM have helped big time. It’s even helped Rogers score a couple of goals to get him up and running again. And Ollie is firing again.
The league this year has been very tight. Not much separating P6 from P12 meaning the mid table teams who might normally be already on the beach this time of year are still contesting European places. No easy games then. At times like this, points on the board become the gold standard. We are well placed.
So the North Stand gets torn down after our game against Bin Dippers. Demolitions have already taken place either side of this stand in preparation for the main works. Capacity next season reduced to 37,000.
We’re told construction will be completed by the start of 27/28 season. Hmmm…..in just 1 year? Optimistic methinks.
Excellent post-match commentary, Plug.
Chelsea are a rabble. Win at Fulham and they can’t catch us. Win at Fulham and UCL is just about done, one or two of the chasing pack are all that’s left to care about. Chelsea might not even make the Conference League. Woe is the Laandaan media. They’re gutted with the Arse blowing it, Spurs in the shit and Chelsea players just not arsed. Not to mention West ‘Aamm.
Villa should be smelling blood at Craven Cottage.
I couldn’t believe the Chelsea result. Dunno if they’ve quit on Rosenior, but losing out on CL would be a helluva way to go about it.
I’m also enjoying Arsenal’s annual bottle job. No love for City, of course, but I can’t stand Arteta and it’s amazing seeing all these teams with so much talent and built-in revenue advantage falling apart.
Icing on the cake would be a cockney hatrick. Fingers crossed for spurs.
Oh, now I’ve just seen Rosenior got the sack. Can’t make it up.
What a difference a couple of weeks make…
Stro
Fat fingers 🤣
Strong position in the league, semis of the Europa, planning ahead with stadium redevelopment.
Things going so well that we even have transfer stories. Harry Wilson is apparently signing on a free. And I don’t know why I suddenly think he wouldn’t be a good signing, when I was all for it a few months ago.
If we lose 2/3 of Guessand, Bailey, Buendia along with Sancho and Elliott, paying Wilson (£100k is the mooted figure) to come on a free still leaves us in the black financially. At 29 though, he will be after his last big payday.
Yep, for me we haven’t solved our need for an out and out RW that’s fast, turns inside or outside, beats his marker(s) and does the grafting helping Cash negate teams that do have such a winger. Don’t think Wilson is that man.
About the nearest one I’ve seen and might be soon available is Summerville. But he will cost a lot of money and we may not be in a financial position (due to SCR) to purchase. Even with UCL funds.
Guessand, Bailey and Sancho have come up short in that position although in Guessand’s case, he’s more of a striker than RW where Unai had been playing him.
But yes, I’m looking forward to a strong finish to this season. Hoping our wobble is behind us.
I would be tempted to keep Buendia. Guessand and Bailey can be sold to raise cash, Money already incoming for Malen, Barrenachea. Then there’s Dobbin, Ned, Iling Jnr to sell. Sancho and Elliott will return to their parent clubs.
But hey, what do I know, Unai will have things mapped out.
Can’t say I disagree with any of that.
Lunch time KO at Fulham tomorrow. They have Iwobi, Tete and Kevin out. Raul Jimenez, Wilson and Marco Silva all running down their contracts this season. Hope this situation produces an average performance from them.
We have an immense incentive. P3 and UCL to go for. Silva’s record when up against Unai is abysmal. Not won one in 8 attempts. Let’s dismantle them Villa. COYVB.
Team news against Fulham:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Bogarde; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Lindelof, Mings, Barkley, Abraham, Sancho, Luiz, Maatsen, Bailey
Looks like Onana is injured. Bummer.
Ho hum yawn.
Did Sancho touch the ball?
Bailey pointless.
Nice energy saving gentle little 16 man stretch out for Thursday – I think.
There were a few who just disappeared from the game. Forrest was clearly the focus…we can’t have it all I guess.
Bailey, bless him. He seems like a nice guy and everyone, even Emery, seems to like him. I’m all for a hero arch and a comeback story, but that season he had does seem like a one-off. He wasn’t the only one who had absolutely zero effect on the game, but he just isnt a good use of wages. Him and Buendia must be on the “will take offers below the asking price” list
Only saw the last 30 minutes but my summary would be Hard working PL Team 1 – 0 Half-arsed Villa.
Not completely unexpected, especially given Forrest’s result yesterday. Also, I hate to keep going on about it, but we aren’t very good with a week in between games.
Emery looked like he was trying to get his steps in on the tough line, so there might be some paint stripped off the walls in the dressing room.
I’d expect 2 wins next week, but this side makes me nervous, because they have a habit of throwing in a shocker when everything seems set up for them to just walk right over the finish line.
It was a nothing game alright. Nothing in the way of energy from us. Nothing in the way of attacking intent from us. Nothing that bothered their keeper. Nothing gained in points. Nothing for the away support for their trouble.
First half we’ve seen just about every game this season. Containment. Hold the ball until you attract an opponent. Play it sideways and backwards to the keeper. Ignore attempts to cross the half way line. Get to HT without conceding. Then step it up in the second half. Except we didn’t get to HT without conceding and we didn’t step it up much in the second period.
Yeah, I’m beside myself with confusion. All hail our fearless less leader, because he knows best, but SURELY we don’t have to endure these first halves, there must be another way. It’s like volunteering for torture.
Then you have him pacing and doing his nut in on the sidelines when they are (partly?) doing what he’s told them to do (partly?)
It’s funny, and often the only entertainment in our first halves, but it’s very confusing.
So, Occam’s Razor. I’m going to assume that Emery’s given instruction, but he’s frustrated in how it’s being applied. This might point to a faulty feedback loop (“Here’s what I want”, “WTF are you doing with what I want?!”), dunno.
Quite a few of the team contributed nothing or very little to the cause. If we play the same in either of the legs against Forest, we’re out for sure. And it’s not yet UCL gained. The best I can come up with was Unai ranting and kicking fresh air on the touch line.
Unai’s record against Fulham now reads played 9 with 8 wins and 1 loss.
2 hours after the game, the only player I remembered was Torres. He played his trademark long crossfield passes (no outcome) but he was mercilessly outmatched by Jiménez (typical old school C/F).
We lost because it was one of those traditional Villa no shows when expected to do well BUT what if Mings had played?
Glad I was forced to miss this one. Win today would’ve just about wrapped it up, but can’t make anything easy.
Simply depressing. They were actually “almost good” quite a few times, but just as with the wide shots from Watkins and Rogers, something was always just a little off. If one or both of those (or Abraham’s late one) go in, we escape a poor performance with points, but that wasn’t going to happen today.
Thought Manure got battered by Brentford yesterday. Thiago missed a hatful. Without Fernandes Manure have nothing. No idea how they are third in the table. But the result suits us. As I see it, 1 more win gets us UCL again. Looking at the remaining fixtures of the chasing pack, Brighton look the biggest danger.
Our day of destiny has arrived. Will Onana be fit? How will Forest approach the game given their precarious position in the relegation fight? We will find out soon enough. Hoping we get a performance from Villa suitable for the occasion. We need to be mentally strong. COYVB.
World class juggling by WN1 keeps us in the game.
That has got to be the 2nd most stupid penalty we have ever given away.
ffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable.
Trademark lumbering less than sparkly performance where nothing stuck or reached it’s intended target. Nightmare tremulous game for Bogarde where everything bounced off him or was given away. If Forest go through on that penalty it will be the wimpyest giveaway of all time.
Oh me of little faith. DEEP GLOOM
Pretty typical away performance, keep it tight and don’t do anything silly. Not too much to talk about and now we have back to back home games. They really have to show some guts and close out 5th place and a place in the final.
Looking at some of the starters, again it’s almost a miracle for Emery to have us in CL places. 2 forwards (Ollie and Morgan) in the starters, 3 if you count Emi…
I’d still back us to win the tie IF we turn up next week.
https://astonvillalife.com/the-semis-forest-vs-villa/