Aston Villa Falter to Norwich City 1-0
By Josh Tonti
Aston Villa lost their second match in three with a disappointing night in Norwich. On a night where the attack fell flat, questions circulate around several key Villa players.
Meh. A very bad performance from everyone involved at Aston Villa Football Club. Nearly every player was sub par on the evening.
Manager Steve Bruce began the match with some curious selections. The Gabby Agbonlahor experiment continued with him isolated up top. Shockingly, he was terrible (not shocking). Jonathan Kodjia started out wide again, a terrible misallocation of his talents.
The match began in subdued fashion – neither side close to scoring. In fact, going into the break, Aston Villa did not record a single shot on goal.
Norwich ran riot after the break. Curiously, Steve Bruce elected not to use his substitutes until after Villa conceded – waiting until the 73rd minute with a double switch.
In all, this match should have finished 2-0 or even perhaps 3-0.
ASTON VILLA PLAYER GRADES:
GK Pierluigi Gollini 5
Not at fault on Nélson Oliveira’s lone strike, but struggled with his handling all match. Spilled a number of shots around the eighteen.
RB Alan Hutton 5
Struggles mightily in possession, as always.
RCB Tommy Elphick 4
Terrible match from the summer’s captain. Conceded a free kick right outside the box with a high boot.
LCB James Chester 5.5
Always seems to be the better center back; no matter who is partnering him.
LB Jordan Amavi 6
Very solid match from Jordan Amavi. Gets up and down the pitch with such ferocity. Much of the Norwich attack funneled down the Villa left side, unfortunately.
CDM Mile Jedinak 7
Man of the match worthy stuff from Jedinak. Needs another central midfielder to extrapolate his talents.
CM Ashley Westwood 5
A truly different player under Steve Bruce, but the results stay the same.
AM Jack Grealish 5
Disappointing match from last week’s scorer. Subbed off in the second half.
Next: Is Carl Jenkinson Villa's Next Right Back?
LW Jonathan Kodjia 4.5
Bewildered as to why he is playing out wide.
ST Gabby Agbonlahor 4
Bad.
RW Jordan Ayew 5
Still too quiet for a player of his talent. Should be dominating this level of competition.
No sense in doing the substitutes. Next up, QPR on Sunday.