Villa Under Pressure After Damaging Defeat To City

Aston Villa’s bid to finish in the English Premier League top four was dealt a cruel blow as they crashed 2-0 to Manchester City at the Eastlands.

The defeat meant six matches without victory for fourth-placed Villa, now under heavy pressure as fifth-placed Arsenal cut the gap to only three points with victory over West Bromwich Albion yesterday.

Despite missing regulars Robinho and Craig Bellamy, City controlled most of the first half, their efforts rewarded as James Milner brought Shaun-Wright Phillips down in the area on 23 minutes.

Much maligned Elano, given a rare start by City manager Mark Hughes, stroked the ball home from the spot for a 1-0 half-time lead.

A listless first half display prompted Villa manager Martin O’Neill to replace defender Curtis Davies with John Carew, moving the ineffective Gabriel Agbonlahor to a wide position.

The change allowed Villa to stretch City, both Agbonlahor and Ashley Young appreciating the space afforded to them. Agbonlahor particularly moved well, setting up Gareth Barry, whose volley was expertly saved by City stopper Shay Given.

As Villa continued to desperately press for the equaliser, City began to find space themselves. City’s best effort came from the impressive Elano, his powerful strike repelled by Brad Friedel.

Shay Given confirmed his bargain of the year status, thwarting Ashley Young at the other end as Villa frustrations threatened to boil over.

Facing the prospect of defeat, Martin O’Neill cut a frantic figure on the sideline, desperately urging his charges on.

As time ebbed away, Villa’s confidence waned, allowing City to launch a final assault.

A much sterner prospect in the home comforts of the Eastlands, the Sky Blues delivered the coup-de-grace on 89 minutes, Shaun Wright-Phillips finishing past the outstanding Brad Friedel to seal the 2-0 victory.

Despite the disappointing result, Villa boss Martin O’Neill remained in good spirits.

“The lads are still excited and want to press on now. We have a really difficult run-in but we are now down to a 10-game season”

O’Neill also made reference to fatigue, nerves, and where his team goes from here.

“We are taking the boys away for a few days so they can rest up and recharge the batteries. We will come back and try and stick with it.

“I would think that our second half performance proves we didn’t play with any nerves. We didn’t play well enough in that first half and we didn’t get into our stride.

“But it was all us after the break and I always thought we were going to get that equalising goal.

“I thought we were capable of doing that. But we didn’t get it—and that game is gone now.

“But the players are really looking forward to the run-in and why not? We will really have a go now.”

City manager Mark Hughes was full of praise for his outfit.

“It was one of the best performances of the season, if not the one, because of the different elements we had to produce to win the match.

“We have shown that we can test ourselves on an equal footing with a team like Aston Villa. The first half was as good as we have been able to produce, if we are honest we should have been out sight by half time but you expect a reaction from Villa and we got it.”

Shaun-Wright Phillips and Stephen Ireland were the standouts for Hughes in an impressive display overall by his side.

“Their movement and understanding caused Aston Villa real problems; we were able to exploit the confusion they created. They had pace, skill and no little amount of technical ability."