Dominant Villa down rock-bottom Rotherham
After a disappointing mid-season blip, Aston Villa moved up to 13th in the championship table after a 2-0 victory over Rotherham United.
This was Villa’s first away win of 2017 and only their third on the road all season; the 1-0 victory against QPR back in December was the club’s most recent away success prior to yesterday.
However despite this damning stat, fans now have reason to be hopeful again. Saturday’s 3 points meant that for the first time in seven seasons Villa have won three on the bounce, an achievement that has not been replicated since the Martin O’Neil era.
Perhaps even more impressively, the club have attained this feat without conceding a single goal in the process, a real plus point for a defense which has received widespread criticism all year.
Villa dominated proceedings from the off and controlled play for large portions of the game, but it still took a 68th minute own goal from Will Vaulks to break the deadlock before Jonathon Kodjia sealed the win three minutes from time.
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The Villans could have and should have taken the lead with only 10 minutes on the clock, when new signing Birkir Bjarnason had two close range efforts blocked before lifting an acrobatic third over the bar.
Soon afterwards Conor Hourihane too was denied, as his effort which looked destined for the bottom left corner following good work on the Villa right was well stopped by the Millers’ keeper Price.
The away team’s onslaught showed no signs of stopping, with Price again coming to the rescue to prevent Albert Adomah from dispatching his one-on-one opportunity. Much credit should also be given to Rotherham’s centre back Aymen Belaid, who dramatically stopped Adomah from scoring an exquisite chip by hacking his effort off the line.
Nevertheless, the first half ended with Villa having nothing to show from their assault on the Rotherham goal other than two high profile injuries in the form of Bjarnason and Jack Grealish.
An ominous aura seemed to engulf Bruce’s men following the restart, as the creative flair which typified the first 45 minutes appeared to dissipate. Few chances ensued until the 68th minute, when Villa finally got their deserved breakthrough.
Jonathon Kodjia made some effective progress down the right wing before firing a pacey ball low across the home team’s penalty area, which the unfortunate Will Vaulks could only turn into his own net with Hourihane lurking.
It wasn’t pretty but signaled jubilant celebrations from the Villa faithful who up until the goal were beginning to get flashbacks to previous performances in which Villa dominated but were unable to make it count.
Rotherham were rocked by the goal and showed why they are bottom of the league without a victory in nine outings, as Villa began to run riot with chances. Grealish’s replacement – Jordan Amavi’s bending effort came close and Hourihane was once again at the forefront of the Villa attack, this time pulling his controlled shot wide of the far post.
Sam Johnstone did well to avert an unlikely goal from the lackluster home side, saving young Irish winger Anthony Forde’s low drilled effort, but it was the B6 side who had the last laugh on the day.
A Villa break in the 87th minute culminated with top-scorer Kodjia driving his effort in at the near post after a neat assist from the impressive Hourihane, allaying any fears of a last minute hiccup.
The win is a huge confidence boost for a Villa team who have desperately been trying to gel in their new signings to improve form on the pitch. Three wins from three certainly suggests this process is now well underway and that the team are starting to reap the benefits of increased creativity in the middle of the park.
With promotion now out of the question, it will be interesting to see how Bruce’s boys can finish the current campaign, as strong from going into the summer break could be the vital ingredient required for a successful promotion push in 2018.