I’ll leave you with this highly original piece of comedy. Thanks for reading, and enjoy what remains of your weekend.
That's a great finish from an unlikely source. Hutton dressed as Lahm! #Villa @NickAmes82
— James Maltby (@maltbyjames) December 7, 2014
Full-time! Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City.
That’s that. The managers are now locked in lengthy but hopefully polite conversation, interestingly enough, which presumably centres around what seemed a harsh red card for Konchesky, who didn’t really sin all that badly. Be that as it may, Leicester remain bottom of the table and have now gone 10 games without a win, losing eight of them. Villa are up to the dizzy heights of 11th.
Leicester didn’t play badly; it was not a game of great quality but it improved after the interval and, for the tempo they came out at, Villa deserved their win. It was a well-conceived and taken winner by Hutton, and there was much encouragement for the home side in the strength of Christian Benteke’s performance. It was indeed he who set up the decisive goal. The Foxes will be frustrated at losing an early lead though, and they do continue to look porous at the back even if they are fairly bright at the other end. A nice and easy home game with Man Cty next for them; a trip to West Brom awaits for Villa.
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90+3 min: Cissokho counters but then can’t really decide whether to create something or go for the corner....it’s nearly very costly because Albrighton mugs him and Leicester begin an attack. The ball is pumped into Villa’s box and comes out to Wood on the edge. His left-footer is lashed wide....perhaps a bit wider than Guzan’s dive made it look, but still.
90+1 min: Villa clear James’ free-kick and then, from the next ball, Guzan claims ahead of Wood. But despite Villa’s man advantage, this one doesn’t seem done quite yet.
90+1 min: Villa still do not look entirely comfortable and Agbonlahor is yellow carded for a foul on Wasilewski. Leicester have a chance to get men in the box. Four minutes of stoppage time to go....
89 min: Grealish has a very watchable waifishness. Something a bit old-fashioned about him.
88 min: Bacuna breaks, goes sideways to Grealish, who goes sideways to Richardson. Neither ball is quite slick enough and James gets back to block well. Then Albrighton crosses, Cambiasso tees himself up very nicely....and overhead kicks well wide.
86 min: James crosses far beyond Wood and out. He’s done that quite a lot in this half.
84 min: Villa will get space on the counter now and Agbonlahor gets away on the right to cross for Grealish, who has time to size up a game-clinching shot but is perhaps a bit too deliberate and sees it blocked by Moore.
84 min: Pearson is down from the stands. Play nicely.
82 min: But Leicester, unperturbed, then come close through James! A Mahrez cross is cleared out to the midfielder, whose drive is deflected just wide with Guzan rooted to the squad. Cambiasso’s corner is then flicked behind for another; the next one, taken by James, won’t quite come down for the Argentinian. Another ball is then pumped forward and Guzan catches it really well.
Red card! Paul Konchesky (80)
Leicester are down to 10! And this is confusing. Konchesky and Hutton, who had thus far more or less avoided confrontation on the same flank, fouled Hutton in a yellow card-worthy tackle and then there were some after from both. Words, heads together, that kind of thing. But Konchesky didn’t seem to do anything more aggressive than his opponent. He received a straight red, Hutton a yellow. I’d probably have given him a yellow for the tackle and then told them both to can it, but what do I know?
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78 min: Schlupp off and ex-Villa man Marc Albrighton on, to polite applause.
77 min: Super save by Schmeichel, keeping Leicester in the game! Grealish, very good since he came on, chips in a considered cross from the left and Benteke, who perhaps should score, rises highest six yards out. Schmeichel tips it round! Then, from Grealish’s corner Benteke gets up again and, through a crowd of players, Schmeichel shovels away. TWO big saves there!
76 min: N’Zogbia off, Bacuna on.
Villa need Bacuna to fill their midfield lacuna.
76 min: ...which is, again, delivered beyond everyone by James. Poor, poor, poor.
75 min: That was great play by Villa. A lovely ball by Benteke, who really has played well, and time seemed to stand still at Hutton sized up his chance. But now Sanchez gets a yellow and Leicester have a free-kick right outside the box...
Goal! Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester (Hutton 71)
Such composure from the full back. A sweeping move from Villa sees Agbonlahor make a superb run down the left before Benteke switches the ball across to Hutton, steaming in from the right. It sits up and he has all the time in the world to look up and plot how to beat Schmeichel. As if in slow motion, he winds back his right foot and thud....no mistakes there. 2-1!
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69 min: What an effort by Nugent and what a save by Guzan! Cambiasso heads forward, Clark is about two yards behind the rest of his defenders and playing Nugent on. The ball sits up and Nugent dips a shot towards Guzan’s top right corner, but the ‘keeper dives at full stretch to paw it behind! James’ corner then goes beyond everyone.
68 min: Grealish is full of purpose and forward thinking whenever he gets the ball, that much is clear, but Benteke is too quickly onto one of his forward passes and is flagged offside.
66 min: Now a Leicester change. The striker Chris Wood, on his 23rd birthday, is on for Vardy. Vardy has run a lot.
65 min: ....which Grealish whips in very dangerously, but Moore heads away well.
65 min: More good play by Grealish, who sends Cissokho to the line. He wins a corner...
64 min: Grealish gets straight on the ball and glides away from Cambiasso before finding Hutton, but that little bit of good work goes to waste. The pace has slowed now after such a chance-laden start to the half.
62 min: Yes, Grealish – just 19 – is on now for Cleverley. The home crowd like it but Cleverley, who had started the half brightly even if he missed a decent chance, heads for the tunnel and may be injured too. That’s two of Villa’s three starting midfielders in trouble.
61 min: Now we’re back to the niggliness of the first half’s closing stages, it seems, and Schlupp rightly receives a booking for sliding in on Hutton.
60 min: Jack Grealish could be coming on soon. Lovely young talent.
59 min: Cambiasso takes one for the team by fouling Agbonlahor as he runs away from him in the centre of the park. Yellow card, as he well knows and accepts.
57 min: Then some very cool defending from Okore denies Schlupp at the other end. This half is totally unrecognisable.
56 min: Schmeichel to the rescue again! Cleverley slides Agbonlahor in down the inside-right. It’s not a clear chance but it’s presentable enough and the forward puts a cross-shot in that could be destined either for net or Benteke tap-in. Schmeichel’s right foot ensures that it finds neither.
55 min: Mahrez toys with Cissokho, teases him, and then stumbles the ball out of play. That looked silly.
53 min: Benteke thwarted when one-on-one! Richardson finds him with a ball through the middle and he beats the offside trap, gives Schmeichel – who is quickly out – the eyes and sees the ‘keeper deflect his shot behind! The below tweet still stands.
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Villa's last goal after half-time in the PL came on the 16th. Of August.
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 7, 2014
52 min: And then Leicester just about get the ball away from Richardson after Agbonlahor skins Wasilewski and gets to the line. Much better start to this half.
51 min: Schlupp then has a chance for Leicester, though, in a similar position to Cleverley a minute ago. This is on Leicester’s left and, with time to set himself, he hits way too high.
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50 min: Sharp start to the half by Villa, this. They’re quicker to the ball. But then Cissokho puts in his worst ball of the game so far and Schmeichel gobbles it up.
49 min: Westwood “opened his knee up”, while Ulloa has a “bruised calf”. So says Sky’s roving reporter.
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48 min: Chance for Cleverley! Yes, a chance! Benteke, who looks strong, evades Wasilewski and plays the midfielder in on the right. He takes a touch and, although Moore is quickly across, might do better than shoot high.
46 min: ....which is appallingly delivered by Cleverley and Schmeichel claims with a holler of “Keeper’s” and no further fuss.
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Second half underway!
Villa get us going and instantly win a free-kick...
The second half is soon to begin, meanwhile, and as expected we won’t see Ulloa again. Goalpoaching’s David Nugent comes on.
Have a look at what happened in the FA Cup today. There was at least one shock.
Sky have their “festive” Christmas intro/outro music going now, I see. Guzan’s already handed out a present, etc and all that. But there’s not much else to warm the spirit at Villa Park yet.
Were any of you watching that half? Tell me.
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City
He does, and we go in at 1-1. Let’s be honest, if this was goalless we’d be admitting that this has been pretty grim. Neither side is showing much quality or confidence, and one of the match’s better performers – Westwood – has just gone off with a nasty-looking injury. Still, you have the feeling that there are chances to be had if either or both decide to show a little more initiative. And Christian Benteke has certainly looked sharp at times, coming very close before Ulloa – who himself may not see much more action judging by the pain he looked to be in as they went off – tapped Leicester into the lead. Villa responded swiftly but didn’t do a lot after that, so there you have it for the next 15 minutes.
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45+5 min: Wasilewski scoops one out of play on the right touchline and let’s all hope that Craig Pawson blows up soon.
45+4 min: Things have got that little bit more harum-scarum after those tackles, and after a scrappy minute or two Ulloa goes down again, this time after Agbonlahor leaves his foot in near halfway.
45+2 min: We are well into four minutes of stoppage time, which will be extended by another couple now. Ulloa is up and about but not exactly moving freely. That was a really “old-fashioned” challenge by Clark.
45 min: Ciaran Clark absolutely THUNDERS in on Ulloa as he breaks down the right, but wins the ball emphatically. Bam. Ulloa is now down in a heap. Leicester’s players aren’t happy. That was very hard but very fair.
44 min: Kieran Richardson comes on for Westwood, then. That’s him and Cleverley ahead of Sanchez in the central three.
43 min: Looks like that’s it for Westwood. He’s on a stretcher. Not nice to see. He’d been one of the better, braver players on the pitch, and put a super ball in for Villa’s goal.
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41 min: Westwood is given a hospital ball by Sanchez but Vardy is still extremely late on him and is booked. Westwood gets treatment and the concern is that this is game over for him. That all raised the hackles of a few players on either side though, and we need that really.
40 min: Nothing came of that but Villa got onto the ball again soon enough and Benteke, who has led the line pretty well, nearly played Westwood in but the midfielder could not quite adjust his feet.
39 min: Villa’s attackers are being forced quite deep to receive the ball and Leicester, squeezing that midfield, are getting time to regroup. But Cleverley does then find Benteke on the edge of the area, and he makes space well to get a shot away. It’s blocked for a corner by Moore.
36 min: ....which is cleared by Agbonlahor and Leicester have to go back into their own half.
35 min: James and Konchesky break and the latter’s cross is blocked by Hutton. Corner...
35 min: Then N’Zogbia is booked for a foul on James. First card of the game.
34 min: N’Zogbia, quieter after a promising start, tries to take on Simpson inside the area and the full-back stands up well, getting behind the ball and winning a foul.
32 min: Benteke somehow escapes an almighty tangle with Wasilewski and the ball ends up with Sanchez, but his cross is headed away. The early goals here were nice but let’s not pretend things have been of a very high quality so far.
31 min: Schlupp gets one-on-one with Hutton and doesn’t want to go outside him, so shuffles inside onto his weaker right. It’s wide of the near post; it could have been better.
30 min: 213 successful passes by Villa to Leicester’s 57, reveals Sky’s graphic. The actual balance of play doesn’t seem to have been quite that skewed.
29 min: If Pearson was swearing at anyone, we’d know about it by now. It’s not exactly loud in there.
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27 min: Another fine ball by Cissokho and Moore has to get ahead of Agbonlahor on the edge of the six-yard box. Villa dominating the ball, while Leicester look fast and direct on the counter.
26 min: Agbonlahor gets the better of Danny Simpson and works himself a sight of goal, but Simpson recovers to take the sting out of his shot.
24 min: Leicester have been looking for the direct diagonal to Vardy in the inside-left channel for the entire game so far, and Cambiasso almost finds him with one. Guzan has to be out really well to dive at the busy striker’s feet and just beat him to the ball.
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23 min: It’s all been a bit hectic in the last 10 minutes but Villa show some good patience now, the ball eventually being worked to Cleverley. His deep ball from the right is headed across goal and wide by Benteke, who was in fact offside.
20 min: Mahrez, a slippery customer, twists Cissokho inside out and tries another low shot at Guzan, this time from much more of an angle. This time it is safely gathered.
20 min: John Perry emails – “Am I your farthest flung Leicester City fan? And unbelievably I can follow the game live on Radio Leicester, Sky and... the Guardian, of course.”
I thought you were all about to come out of the woodwork, but then...
Goal! Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester (Clark 17)
His first goal for two years! Westwood has a free-kick some 35 yards out and slightly to the left. He puts in a delicious ball that Clark, running off his marker, dives to meet with a nicely-directed header that goes high to Schmeichel’s right. Leicester not so perky now. And perhaps we’re in for some entertainment here....
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16 min: What an early perk for Leicester, secured by doing what they do – getting the ball to their wingers quickly. Well, the mistake by Guzan helped too.
Goal! Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester (Ulloa 13)
Oh dear Brad Guzan. Villa allow Mahrez, for the first time, to go on a run down the right and, though they show him inside, they do so to the extent that he gets all the way to the 18-yard line. He tries a fairly harmless low shot that takes a slight nick off a defender and seem to wrong-foot Guzan but, still, it’s moving slowly enough for you to expect him to get something behind it. But the ball just pops off his left hand and straight to Ulloa, lurking, who has the simplest of tasks to tap in.
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12 min: I say that, but what an effort that was by Benteke! A Hutton ball down the inside right goes beyond N’Zogbia but Benteke, like a flash, is onto it first-time and swipes a lovely half-volley just beyond the far post.
11 min: Ulloa dabs a leg at another Wasilewski ball, which was probably there to be handled with further conviction. Little of that on show from either team thus far though.
10 min: More space for Leicester. Wasilewski plays a diagonal ball to Vardy, who waits and lays back for Ulloa. It is spirited thence to James and he blasts over. As does Benteke down the other end a few seconds later.
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8 min: Benteke and N’Zogbia interchange, the former drifting to the left and the latter inside. Benteke tries to play his colleague in but Matty James is tracking back quite superbly to slide in and take the ball cleanly. Then, for the first time, Leicester have some open grass and Schlupp gets to the line but can’t get enough on his cross.
7 min: Westwood brings a ball down beautifully near halfway, skips forward and looks for Benteke, but it’s wayward. Shame, it was a great take.
6 min: Leicester are very quickly behind the ball when it’s lost. Two compact banks of four. They do have deficiencies – the defensive capability of winger Mahrez is often questioned, for one – but it’s a disciplined start from them amid plenty of Villa possession.
4 min: N’Zogbia gets onto a Hutton ball down the right, waits and then tries to lay it inside for the Scot, who has continued his own run. But neither quite gets it right and it’s cleared.
2 min: Decent, whipped low ball by Cissokho from the left. Benteke is never really going to get onto it, but it’s into a nice area.
1 min: If Pearson has a swear today, he’ll be doing it down a mic. He’s in the stands, as is often his wont, looking like a rugby coach.
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Peep! Leicester get us underway
The Foxes shoot from right to left, as per the telly.
The teams are out. And it’s not exactly a packed house at Villa Park. Let’s hope those present are entertained, because that should mean we are too.
Before you get out the popcorn for this one, read FSF writer of the year Amy Lawrence’s match report of West Ham 3-1 Swansea.
“I would like to see a Villa team that just takes charge from the whistle blowing until the end. If they can’t do that against a team like Leicester then I don’t understand it,” quoth punditry’s Dwight Yorke.
You can email me by the way. Go on. It might be mutually beneficial. Write to nick.ames.casual@theguardian.com
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Pearson is quizzed by Sky about fkoffndiegate:
“Without saying too much about that now it’s something we have to move on from and the players have to focus on getting our performance right. Throughout what has been a difficult spell the mood has been positive among the players and they get my total backing.”
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Do you remember that game? I do, although I barely remember games that I watched last week. Muddy pitch, Tommy Johnson, Mark Robins....David Lowe. And an improbable comeback from the Foxes.
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Vintage Villa v Leicester!
There is such a thing. And it happened in ‘95:
The flip side to that is, of course, that players and staff are paid well to deal well with high-pressure situations. We’ll all have our view. What’s for sure is that Leicester, for all their high-tempo, straightforward wing play and positive approach, have to stop the rot at some point and then none of this will matter.
Cameras will probably be fixed on Nigel Pearson today hoping for some more sweariness. I mean, I’m all for the right to free speech and the privileges of the paying customer, but I was delighted he stopped short of apologising to whoever it was who volleyed forth from the stands on Tuesday. Where exactly have we got to with this cult of apology? It’s a fact that some people have no grip whatsoever on reality. Not that they’d ever understand it even if told. And if you don’t agree then you can f......ind another MBM.
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So what are the key points from those team announcements?
Villa will have to do without Andreas Weimann, who is suspended after receiving five bookings, and the injured Joe Cole. Both started at Palace, although Cole had to go off in the first 10 minutes. Charles N’Zogbia, who I keep forgetting is still a going concern, comes in and Carlos Sanchez does too, which might tighten things up a bit.
Leicester have a suspension of their own, Wes Morgan missing out after his red card against Liverpool in midweek. Liam Moore deputises at centre-back. Another defensive change sees Danny Simpson come in for Ritchie de Laet. And that’s your lot, nothing alters further forward. It’s not a huge surprise as, for all their poor recent results, Leicester have not really been playing that badly.
Before we digest all that, a reminder that West Ham v Swansea is now in its death throes. It’s 2-1 to the Hammers and Lukasz Fabianski has been (harshly?) sent off. The good man John Ashdown is chronicling that one.
Team (and referee) news!
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Clark, Okore, Cissokho, Westwood,
Sanchez, Cleverley, N’Zogbia, Benteke, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Bacuna, Herd, Richardson, Given, Lowton, Robinson, Grealish.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Moore, Wasilewski, Konchesky, Mahrez, James, Cambiasso, Schlupp, Ulloa, Vardy.
Subs: Drinkwater, King, Albrighton, Hamer, Powell, Nugent, Wood.
Referee: Craig Pawson.
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Preamble
Feeling cheerful? Sunday afternoon, you’ve broken the back of the weekend and now, sinking further into your chair, you cast a dizzied eye over a set of televised football options that they’ll be devising an A Level about a few years from now. FA Cup first round float your boat? Perhaps some of those European games on BT that you vaguely feel you should get along with? Maybe a re-run of yesterday’s Premier League goalfest is on somewhere? It gets dark early these days, doesn’t it? So why not keep it deeply traditional with some 4pm Sunday top-flight action, and how more traditional can you get than a sullen and one-third empty Villa Park? It’s Villa v Leicester, folks, and the vibes around this one are...errr...not especially vibrant.
That’s not to say that nobody here is in form. Villa, by their recent standards, are flying. Christian Benteke’s winner at Palace in midweek was all very nice and brings up four games unbeaten, albeit the other three were draws. It has certainly steadied the ship after the ignominy of six consecutive defeats, although nothing about Paul Lambert’s side at the moment feels particularly convincing and the home crowd certainly voted with their feet when just 25,311 rocked up for the draw with Southampton 13 days ago.
Leicester have lost seven of their last nine, the bottom falling out after their 5-3 hilarity against Manchester United, and sit snugly at the foot of the table – which didn’t seem an especially likely scenario a while back. And it’s not exactly happy families there. So things might get a little tense this afternoon; defeat would be a big setback for both.
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Nick will be here shortly...
