Aston Villa and Bristol City battle to 1-1 draw before international window
By Josh Tonti
Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa experimented with a back-three system before reverting into a 4-3-3. Alas, nothing was successful as Villa drew Bristol City away from home after two fluky goals.
A whole lot of “meh” to go around. You could give all 22 players on the pitch a grade of 6/10 and call it day, and that would be pretty spot-on analysis.
Steve Bruce trotted out a back-three system featuring: James Chester, John Terry, and Chris Samba right-to-left. Neil Taylor and Ahmed Elmohamady manned the wingback roles, while Keinan Davis continued his ascent as starting center-forward.
The match started innocuous enough for the away side. Villa conceded possession, but Bristol did not bring much going forward. In fact, the claret and blue had a few half-chances – most notably André Green side-stepping a defender and forcing a save from Bristol goalkeeper, Frank Fielding.
Thereafter, not much happened. Neither side took a strong attacking initiative. Bristol City’s goal came in the 60th-minute after John Terry conceded a foul right on the edge of the box. The shot was blocked in the wall, mis-cleared, headed softly, then fell to Bristol midfielder Jamie Paterson, who slid it home.
Not to be outdone with the bizarre, Aston Villa followed closely five minutes later. On-loan Tottenham midfielder Josh Onomah scored from 25-yards out – one that took a massive deflection on its way in.
6.0. Five saves from Sam Johnstone, but all of the easy variety. Distribution still needs a lot of work after a 35.7% pass success rate.. GK. Aston Villa. SAM JOHNSTONE
6.5. Played right midfield in the second half after the system change. One of Aston Villa’s better performers because the match suited his style. Nothing flashy, but worked hard. Elmohamady won eight aerial duels, but only passed at a 67.8% rate.. RWB. Aston Villa. AHMED ELMOHAMADY
RCB. Aston Villa. JAMES CHESTER. 6.5. Good match from James Chester, who filled three different roles in the match: RCB in a back-three, 20 minutes at right back, and traditional CB in the second half. The Welshman won two aerial duels.
6.0. Very solid match for the Aston Villa captain, John Terry. Unfortunately, he gets bumped a half-grade by committing the foul that led to the goal.. CB. Aston Villa. JOHN TERRY
Aston Villa. CHRIS SAMBA. 6.0. Samba received a very good 7.40 rating by WhoScored, but seemed less steady than that. He did, however, win four aerial duels. Sacrificed at half time for a system change.. LCB
Aston Villa. NEIL TAYLOR. 5.0. Nothing bad from Neil Taylor, but another match that is a microcosm of his Villa career – didn’t offer anything moving forward. Completed only 62.5% of his passes while the left side struggled to produce with Davis, Taylor, and Green.. LWB
Aston Villa. GLENN WHELAN. 6.0. Consecutive good-to-solid matches from the Republic of Ireland midfielder. Had 64 touches with 92.5% passing accuracy,. CDM
Well, it wasn’t a repeat of his hat-trick heroics, but it wasn’t bad, either.. CM. Aston Villa. CONOR HOURIHANE. 5.5
. JOSH ONOMAH. 6.5. Gets the grade after a lucky goal. Not at his best, but one of Villa’s better performers; Onomah is a massive talent. Booked in the second half.. CM
5.0. Didn’t threaten after scoring his first professional goal last week. Match and position didn’t play well to his style.. SS. Aston Villa. ANDRE GREEN
KEINAN DAVIS. 6.0. Not quite the dominating performance he had with Norwich, but still solid for a 19-year old striker. Davis held the play very well, but didn’t get great service or runners.. CF. Aston Villa
As for the subs? James Bree receives a six for pretty quiet play in the second half. Bjarnason and Hogan came on too late to influence the course of the match. All data from WhoScored.
Next up, the international window. Villa will resume play with a league match against Brentford on Saturday, September 9.