Nostalgia of a rivalry which was being played in the same location, the same time and the same level of expectation was underway – a last minute Christian Benteke penalty was etched into the memories of the Villa faithful from across the globe. But, that meant nothing now; the moment was now and a visit to Wembley.
An uneventful first half with a lack of chances on the Villa side other than an impressive Scott Sinclair dribble down the right hand side of the pitch towards the by-line, but only turning into a 6 yard scramble which was easily swept up by Albion keeper Myhill. The game could have been totally different with two massive chances from Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye early on – Berahino failing to get the direction to beat Shay Given at the far post and Brown Ideye failing to get a proper connection after a superb ball in from Craig Gardner, which saw a chance from 10 yards go over the crossbar with Given and Okore beaten.
We were very much in control of possession in the first half, but the lack of creativity harmed us and showed how we are vulnerable to a quick counter-attack. Villa came out like Lions after half time break with a lot more precision and weight in attack with N’Zogbia and Sinclair leading the creative force on the pitch – before long West Brom were caught on the back foot and were lulled into a sense of defensive uncertainty, N’Zogbia took full control of the situation slowly pacing toward Jonas Olsson before switching play over to the oncoming Fabian Delph – the England International delivered a hard left footed strike straight into the back of the net from 23 yards out. Pandemonium ensued.
Villa were in control and West Brom were always playing catch up, the moment of no return for West Brom was after a 50/50 between Bacuna and Yacob was adjudged by an official that Yacob had his studs up on the Villa right back – probably a harsh second yellow even for modern football standards but off went Yacob, taunted by the Villa faithful and off came Craig Gardner for West Brom, replaced by Mulumbu to help sure up the midfield but to no avail. Any creative spark that Brown Ideye and Berahino to get back into the game was lost in one stroke of Pulis’s game management decision.
After defending a corner successfully the pressure was on Jack Grealish to use his ability effectively, a perfectly weighted ball to Scott Sinclair saw Villa park get out of their seats in anticipation before Sinclair chopped the ball onto his stronger foot and delicately place it into the far corner – 2-nil, game set and match for Aston Villa. The Villa supporters couldn’t contain themselves, some spilled on the pitch in pure ecstasy. Another similar attack saw Grealish with the ball trying to beat Joleon Lescott by pushing the ball past, contact was made but the referee judged that Grealish dived. Second yellow and a red card for the 19 year old, bringing the sides to 10 each. Harsh on the young talent as contact was their all be it minimal.
At the final whistle, Villa Park was invaded by the people who have had to endure so much in recent years – they weren’t just celebrating a massive result, they were celebrating the start of something. No one can yet put their finger on what is happening at Villa, but something special is brewing and Villa fans are grasping to it with two hands while they can, especially after the last 5 years of utter mediocrity in every competition. This is just the start for Aston Villa.
