As the weeks go by and the defeats pile up, it becomes harder for Aston Villa to escape the harsh reality of their situation. The sense of drift and decay that stalks this proud club these days was deepened by a performance that began with a show of confused timidity before veering into insipid aimlessness and a frenetic but fruitless search for an equaliser against Stoke City, who pulled away from the bottom three thanks to a solitary goal from Marko Arnautovic, the game’s outstanding player.
Villa’s increasingly disgruntled supporters seethed, booing when a corner was wasted in stoppage time, and Villa Park was verging on mutiny after the final whistle, Tim Sherwood and his players forced to endure a torrent of abuse as they disappeared down the tunnel. Sherwood’s team have picked up one point since winning at Bournemouth on the opening day and their fourth successive defeat leaves them in the relegation zone, four points below West Bromwich Albion in 17th place.
Sherwood is searching for inspiration and solutions, chopping and changing again in an attempt to locate the magic formula that will eradicate Villa’s many problems, but he admitted that he does not know his best team after a scattergun summer in which he signed 13 players and his questionable use of an awkward 5-3-2 system only lasted until half-time, Jack Grealish replacing Joleon Lescott.
Villa’s manager wanted his wing-backs, Alan Hutton and Jordan Amavi, to provide ammunition for Rudy Gestede. Yet Gestede waited in vain for a decent cross and it was impossible to detect any coherent plan during a first half in which Villa’s only shot was a wayward effort from 25 yards by Idrissa Gana in the 39th minute. “They never opened us up to any great extent,” Mark Hughes said. The only worry for the Stoke manager was losing Mame Biram Diouf to a hip injury in the second half.
After a slow start to the season, this was City’s second successive victory. They dominated and should have scored after four minutes, a slick combination between Bojan Krkic and Jonathan Walters releasing Diouf. Micah Richards saved Villa with a brilliant tackle.
Arnautovic caused problems for Villa with his wily runs away from Hutton and the winger was justifiably aggrieved when he had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside shortly before the break. Replays showed that Arnautovic was level when he guided Bojan’s cross past Brad Guzan.
Sherwood bemoaned the absence of a player with “that maverick ingredient”, someone who can create chances and open up stubborn defences with a dash of class. He reverted to four at the back at half-time but Stoke remained in control despite Grealish’s introduction.
The visitors had more space to exploit and when Glen Johnson spotted a huge gap between Richards and José Ángel Crespo in the 55th minute, Stoke’s right-back slid an accurate pass through to Arnautovic, who turned and slipped a shot past Guzan, the ball hitting the inside of the left post and rolling over the line. Stoke deserved to be in front but the jolt of going behind stirred Villa from their torpor and they created their best chance moments later, only for Richards to send a header wide from close range.
Villa’s effort could not be faulted. They battled furiously in the final 30 minutes and Sherwood took heart from their fight. Yet their desperation, not to mention their searing lack of quality, was encapsulated by a comical attempt by Richards to con Mike Jones into giving him a penalty near the end.
