Aston Villa 2-2 Stoke City: Player Ratings From Wild Second-Half Finish
By Josh Tonti
![BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Dean Smith manager of Aston Villa looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Stoke City at Villa Park on December 15, 2018 in Birmingham, England. BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Dean Smith manager of Aston Villa looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Stoke City at Villa Park on December 15, 2018 in Birmingham, England.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/77d04e9b2fa5511ba82ee133677f8af60ca66e37f8f4e69763318fa41cd5b447.jpg)
A wild second-half at Villa Park ensured points were distributed evenly between Stoke City and Aston Villa. Tammy Abraham and Jonathan Kodjia had the goals for the claret and blues.
Amidst a small injury crisis at Aston Villa, manager Dean Smith called upon a youthful bench to serve in the matchday 18. 20-year-olds Callum O’Hare, Keinan Davis, James Bree, alongside teenager Dominic Revan formed 4/7 of the reserves.
None saw action, however, as substitute forward Jonathan Kodjia powered Villa to a 2-2 draw.
Scoreless at the break after a feisty first-half, Stoke City drew first blood as Joe Allen hammered home a cutback 90 seconds in. It stayed that way for 20+ minutes until Jonathan Kodjia drew a penalty kick via Erik Pieters’ foul. Tammy Abraham calmly tucked the ball in to make it 1-1. Minutes later, Ahmed Elmohamady returned the favor with a conceded penalty of his own. Stoke substitute Benik Afobe made it 2-1 to the visitors.
With five minutes left in regular time, Glenn Whelan played the ball down the right-wing. Yannick Bolasie’s crossed ball saw Kodjia head the ball downward and into the back of the net. The match finished 2-2 in adverse weather conditions.
FT: #AVFC 2-2 Stoke. Fair result as both teams were pretty poor. Weather conditions definitely factored in. Villa sorely missed Grealish. #utv
— Claret Villans (@ClaretVillans) December 15, 2018
A point in the bag, but parts of that #AVFC performance were really bad - particularly the FBs. Both essentially culpable for goals, Hutton rinsed repeatedly by whichever man Stoke put on his flank.
— Sam Tighe (@stighefootball) December 15, 2018
In all, a fair result.