Sunday February 12, 2012 Day 25 Finished Villa Park

  1. Man City floor Villa to reclaim top spot

    Man City floor Villa to reclaim top spot

    Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table with an uninspiring 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Aston Villa
    • Manchester City
    • - Don't forget you can watch highlights of this match, along with every Premier League game, from 00:01 on Monday morning (UK only).
    • 90+6' The final whistle goes and City return to the top of the table thanks to Lescott's winner!
    • 90+4' Villa substitution: Nathan Baker repalces Dunne, who leaves nursing what could be a shoulder or collar bone injury.
    • 90+3' Hart punches clear as Villa send another aerial ball into the box. Play is stopped as Dunne remains down after getting clattered.
    • 90+2' City substitution: Micah Richards replaces Silva.
    • 90+1' HART SAVES!! The England keeper has had nothing to do for 90 minutes but when called upon to block Bent's hooked effort he was equal to the task!
    • 90' Collins commits forward to chase a cross and forces Kolarov to head behind for a corner.
    • 89' City substitution: Dzeko replaces Aguero.
    • 89' N'Zogbia is booked after miscontrolling and lunging at De Jong in his attempt to recover the ball.
    • 88' Cuellar given free rein to run forward and meet a set peice with a header... Nodded way over the bar.
    • 86' Good work from N'Zogbia and Ireland sees Bent carry the ball over the halfway line. He skips one challenge but, faced with the whole City back four still to beat, soon relinquishes possession. Even now, so little ambition from Villa.
    • 85' City could become the first team to collect 60 points through 25 matches since Arsenal in 2007/2008. In that season, the Gunners finished in third place.
    • 84' City substitution: Samir Nasri replaces Johnson.
    • 83' Lovely slaloming run into the box from Milner and his pass for Aguero is cut out before it reaches the striker.
    • 81' Dunne rises at the far post and wins the header, but again it's an easy catch for Hart.
    • 80' Poor decion making from Johnson and Villa have a corner.
    • 78' Ireland's introduction means there are now five players on the field who have turned out for both clubs.
    • 77' Villa substitution: Stephen Ireland replaces Albrighton.
    • 76' The idiot has been apprehended and the match can restart.
    • 75' Play is held up temporarily by a moron running on to the pitch.
    • 74' Joe Hart is on course for his 11th clean sheet of the season, which would be the most by any goalkeeper in the division. The City custodian is now tied on 10 with the Spurs’ Brad Friedel and Liverpool’s Pepe Reina.
    • 72' N'Zogbia already looking sprightly as he hares away on the break down the right. Kolarov holds him up on this occasion but he will be aware of the test he faces in the final 20 minutes or so.
    • 70' Great stat from Opta Joe on Twitter (@OptaJoe): "5 - No defender has scored more PL goals against a single club than Joleon Lescott vs Aston Villa. Fan?"
    • 69' Villa substitution: Charles N'Zogbia replaces Heskey.
    • 68' Big shouts for handball by City and their fans after a cross hits Alan Hutton's hand, but referee Michael Oliver is not interested. It would have been harsh on the Scottish full-back. He didn't seem to know much about it.
    • 66' Very difficult to see how Villa are going to win this game now. They have still had just the one shot on target.
    • 64' That's Lescott's second goal in the league this season, and the fifth in his career against the club he supported as a boy.
    • 63' GOAL!! ASTON VILLA 0-1 MAN CITY!! Barry heads the corner back across the box at the far post and Lescott beats Given from close range with a shot on the turn!
    • 63' Silva whips in a devilish delivery that Collins heads over the bar. Corner to City...
    • 62' Dangerous run from Silva down the right and Petrov fouls him right on the edge of the box! The Villa captain gets a booking.
    • 61' Darren Bent has scored seven goals in 12 Premier League games against Man City; only against Bolton (11) has he netted more often.
    • 59' Villa clear the ball but they are struggling to find Keane or any other outlet. City come again and Kolarov fires a low ball across the face of goal that no one gets a touch on.
    • 58' City win another corner now. It comes to Lescott again but he is crowded out before he can guide a header on target. City keeping the pressure on now.
    • 57' Aguero lays the ball off to Zabaleta who charges in from the right and has a solid strike that stings the palms of Given!
    • 56' Good spell this for Villa, thoguh again it amounts to good possession in midfield rather than any clear chances.
    • 55' This season, City had scored twice as many second half goals (42) as first half goals (21) coming into today’s match. No other PL side had netted more than 33 times in the second half at the start of this matchday.
    • 54' Silva whips in a great delivery and Joleon Lecott gets in front of his marker but heads over the bar! The defender has a good scoring record from those situations. He should have done btter.
    • 53' Pablo Zabaleta powers forward and Bent trips him. Free-kick in a good position for City, near the right-hand corner of the box.
    • 52' Roberto Mancini has sent Edin Dzeko out to warm up. he could be planning the Bosnian on, or just hoping his presence on the touchline will shake Aguero into action.
    • 50' City deal with the Villa corner well. The ball is soon back with Given.
    • 49' Keane wins a free-kick of Kompany, and that set piece eventually leads to a corner.
    • 48' Vincent Kompany glances a decent header on target and Collins heads it away! Heskey puts behind for another corner, which Given claims.
    • 47' Bright start to the half for City and they have an early corner.
    • 46' The second half is underway! Keep your tweets on the match coming in on Twitter @tony_mabert.
    • 45+1' The whistle goes for half-time. Let's hope the second half is a lot better than that.
    • 45' Work rate from Marc Albrighton to snuff out a City attack down the right, but his early ball over the top runs through to Joe Hart.
    • 44' Great pace frm Kolarov to get after a ball down the channel. He hooks the ball across the box from right on the byline but a retreating Collins is back to block it.
    • 42' Petrov's corner is met by a Dunne's header after leaving his run late, but he heads well over the bar.
    • 41' Hutton gets forward down the right for the first time in this game and wins a corner off Kolarov.
    • 40' Another speculative effort from City, by Aguero this time. One for the stats only.
    • 39' Kolarov gets his left-footed strike over the wall but it sails comfortably over the bar.
    • 38' Emile Heskey tracks back to help out his side's defence but catches Barry late. City have a free-kick in a good area here.
    • 37' So far the shot count for this game reads: Villa - 1; City 7 (5 on target).
    • 35' Aguero is on his worst run since joining City. Before he scored from the penalty spot against Fulham last weekend, he went five games without a goal.
    • 34' Johnson surges to the byline and pulls the back for AGUERO... Fails to connect cleanly and Alan Hutton is there to stop it trickling into the net, if indeed it was on target.
    • 33' Milner wins the ball and drives forward down the left. He squares inside but Collins anticipates the pass well and intercepts it.
    • 32' City have not allowed a first half goal in each of their previous nine PL matches.
    • 30' Silva picks out Aguero and the striker is at it again. He works a yard of space for the shot but skews his effort intot he crowd! The Argentine has scored 15 goals in the league this season, but not one of them has come outside of Manchester or London.
    • 28' Aleksandar Kolarov's shot is deflected behind for another corner. Silva is beginning to find more space now.
    • 27' Johnson has a crack from the edge of the box that crashes off the foot of the post! City getting closer to an opener now.
    • 26' Lovely skill and turn from Aguero on the edge of the box and he surges into the area. He dinks the ball over Given but there is not a City player there to finish at the far post!
    • 25' Former Villa midfielder Ashley Young is also here to watch this game, albeit sat in a box rather than in the cold of the stand.
    • 24' James Milner, making his 300th league appearance, is penalised for a foul on former Villa team-mate Collins.
    • 22' As we approach the midway point of the half, it's been very tepid so far. city look like they are trying to win this game without breaking a sweat. That could well happen, of course.
    • 21' Manchester City have won just one of their last six Premier League away games (W1 D2 L3). In that six-game run, Roberto Mancini’s side have scored just three goals.
    • 20' Barry has a pop from range but it's another easy one for Given. Had Silva got a touch as he ran across the keeper he would have been offside anyway.
    • 18' Silva with a sublime touch inside the Villa area, but his low effort is also an easy save for the keeper.
    • 18' Petrov floats in a ball to the far post and Dunne heads it right at Hart. Tame, but at least it's a shot on target.
    • 17' Vilal send plenty of men forward for a free-kick from deep. No surprise that this is likely to produce their first chance...
    • 16' Johnson tries to latch on to a lside-rule pass forward, but it just flashes in front of him and out for a goal kick. If he can catch one of those he looks like he'll have the beating of Cuellar.
    • 15' City have scored 63 goals after 24 matches this season, 26 more than at the same juncture last season. They have conceded 19 goals, one fewer than at the same stage last season.
    • 13' Villa seeing a bit more of the ball now. Finding it impossible to hit their front men though.
    • 12' Gardner spreads the play wide to Carlos Cuellar, who plays it down the line for Robbie Keane. The Irishman tries to execute a turn as he controls the ball but knocks it out of play.
    • 11' Dunne has had plenty of work to do against his old club already. He heads the ball away three times in quick succession, only to see it come back at him again.
    • 10' So far, Man City have had 76% of the possession. They have certainly kept the Holte End very quiet.
    • 9' Bent is caught offside for the first - but probably not the last - time this evening.
    • 8' Or, alternatively watch it on British Eurosport or the Eurosport Player. Better than watching Last of the Summer Wine, anyway. Subscribe to Eurosport Player
    • 7' Remember, neither Yaya nor Kolo Toure are here because they will be playing for Ivory Coast int he final of the African Cup of Nations this evening. Follow live coverage of that match right here from around 18:00, with kick-off at 19:00.
    • 6' Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner is at Villa Park to watch his former team play, and his younger brother Gary in particular.
    • 5' The corner is played early to Silva but it only leads to Villa winning the ball and launching a counter. Stiliyan Petrov battles down the left but ends up conceding a goal kick.
    • 4' Adam Johnson roams in from the right and plays a neat one-two with Silva, but the return pass is hacked away. City win a corner.
    • 3' James Collins's header falls to David Silva on the edge of the bopx. The little Spaniard nods it across to Sergio Aguero whose shot on the turn is right at Shay Given! Early scare for Villa.
    • 2' City hogging the possession from the kick-off. Making sure every member of their team gets a early on.
    • 1' Well, I think it's City. Their away strip of blue shirts and white shorts looks rather too similar to Villa's claret-and-blue shirts and white shorts for comfort. This should be fun!
    • 1' City kick off and we're underway!
    • 15:57 The players are walking out on to pitch in this cold evening in Birmingham. We're almost ready to go. You can share your thoughts on this match by getting in touch with me on Twitter @tony_mabert.
    • 15:55 Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Stephen Ireland all previously played for Man City. Dunne still holds the record of having played in the most PL games for club (253). Gareth Barry remains Aston Villa’s highest ever PL appearance maker with 365 matches for them (41 goals) from 1997 to 2009.
    • 15:50 This will be Robbie Keane's penultimate match for Villa. The club failed in their bid to get his loan from LA Galaxy extended, so the Irishman will return to the MLS after the match at Wigan on a fortnight's time. Full story here
    • 15:45 Head-to-head: Villa are unbeaten at home against City in their last four meetings at Villa Park. They won 1-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, with Darren Bent scoring the winner on his debut for the club.
    • 15:40 Villa will leap four places up to 11th with a victory this afternoon. City will return to the top of the table on goal difference with a draw here, but a win would put them two points clear of local rivals United. Premier League table
    • 15:35 Stat from Infostrada: Manchester City won 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium when the teams last played in the PL in October, with four different players getting on the score sheet for City. The club have had at least four different goal scorers in the same game four times in the PL this season.
    • 15:30 Fifteen miles away at Molineux, Wolverhampton Wanderers have just lost 5-1 at home to West bromwich Albion in the Black Country derby. Mick McCarthy's side were roundly booed off at the end. Matchcast: Wolves 1-5 West Brom
    • 15:25 So, Villa bring in James Collins for Stephen Warnock and Gary Gardner for Stephen Ireland; City promote Pablo Zabaleta, Nigel De Jong and James Milner for Micah Richards, Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko.
    • 15:20 TEAMS: ASTON VILLA: Given; Hutton Cuellar Dunne Collins; Petrov Gardner; Albrighton Keane Heskey; Bent... Subs: Guzan Ireland Warnock Bannan Baker Weimann N'Zogbia. /// MAN CITY: Hart; Zabaleta Kompany Lescott Kolarov; De Jong Barry; A Johnson Silva Milner; Aguero... Subs: Pantilimon Richards Clichy Savic Nasri Pizarro Dzeko.
    • 15:15 Welcome to live coverage of Aston Villa versus Manchester City from Villa Park!

  • Summary

    • 90+1' HART SAVES!! The England keeper has had nothing to do for 90 minutes but when called upon to block Bent's hooked effort he was equal to the task!
    • 88' Cuellar given free rein to run forward and meet a set peice with a header... Nodded way over the bar.
    • 68' Big shouts for handball by City and their fans after a cross hits Alan Hutton's hand, but referee Michael Oliver is not interested. It would have been harsh on the Scottish full-back. He didn't seem to know much about it.
    • 63' GOAL!! ASTON VILLA 0-1 MAN CITY!! Barry heads the corner back across the box at the far post and Lescott beats Given from close range with a shot on the turn!
    • 57' Aguero lays the ball off to Zabaleta who charges in from the right and has a solid strike that stings the palms of Given!
    • 54' Silva whips in a great delivery and Joleon Lecott gets in front of his marker but heads over the bar! The defender has a good scoring record from those situations. He should have done btter.
    • 48' Vincent Kompany glances a decent header on target and Collins heads it away! Heskey puts behind for another corner, which Given claims.
    • 34' Johnson surges to the byline and pulls the back for AGUERO... Fails to connect cleanly and Alan Hutton is there to stop it trickling into the net, if indeed it was on target.
    • 27' Johnson has a crack from the edge of the box that crashes off the foot of the post! City getting closer to an opener now.
    • 26' Lovely skill and turn from Aguero on the edge of the box and he surges into the area. He dinks the ball over Given but there is not a City player there to finish at the far post!
    • 18' Silva with a sublime touch inside the Villa area, but his low effort is also an easy save for the keeper.
    • 18' Petrov floats in a ball to the far post and Dunne heads it right at Hart. Tame, but at least it's a shot on target.
    • 3' James Collins's header falls to David Silva on the edge of the bopx. The little Spaniard nods it across to Sergio Aguero whose shot on the turn is right at Shay Given! Early scare for Villa.
    • 15:20 TEAMS: ASTON VILLA: Given; Hutton Cuellar Dunne Collins; Petrov Gardner; Albrighton Keane Heskey; Bent... Subs: Guzan Ireland Warnock Bannan Baker Weimann N'Zogbia. /// MAN CITY: Hart; Zabaleta Kompany Lescott Kolarov; De Jong Barry; A Johnson Silva Milner; Aguero... Subs: Pantilimon Richards Clichy Savic Nasri Pizarro Dzeko.

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

    Please to rate the players.

    Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account.

    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      6.3 6
      Defenders
      5.1 5
      5.5 6
      Yellow Card Substitution Out90′ 6.1 6
      5.7 5
      Midfielders
      5.4 5
      Yellow Card 6.1 6
      Substitution Out69′ 7.4 5
      Substitution Out78′ 5.5 5
      Strikers
      6.2 5
      5.7 5
      Subs
      Substitution In69′ Yellow Card 5.6 6
      Substitution In78′ 4.8 -
      Substitution In90′ 3.6 -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      6.6 7
      Defenders
      5.3 6
      6.4 6
      Goal 5.9 7
      5.7 6
      Midfielders
      5.6 6
      6.1 7
      Substitution Out85′ 5.7 6
      Substitution Out90′ 6.9 7
      5.9 6
      Strikers
      Substitution Out89′ 6.4 5
      Subs
      Substitution In85′ 5.3 -
      Substitution In90′ 5.5 -
      Substitution In89′ 6.4 -

Comment 240 - 259 of 259

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. Saw Joe Hart handing over his shirt with a handshake to­ a fan at the end of the game. What a gesture. What a­ decent chap he is!

    From Tel, on Tue 14 Feb 23:39

  2. Lets face it who CAN'T beat Aston Villa and only by­ 1 goal. Where has all the money gone certainly not on­ players!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From B, on Tue 14 Feb 2:19

  3. Ultra defensive attitude that seems to pervade­ McCleishes thinking when we play any of the top teams­ seems to be taking us totally in the wrong direction.He­ then comes on to the TV to say that" we­ could'nt attack them until we went behind as they­ would have ripped us to pieces".Strange­ logic.Heading the same way as Birmingham went last­ year,so much for Learners ambition!

    From JOHN BARKER, on Mon 13 Feb 21:09

  4. do we not realise at this time last yewar the blues had­ more points than we have now. If mccarthy has to go­ from wolves then mcleish and his american mates need to­ leave the villa and soon

    From KEITH, on Mon 13 Feb 21:09

  5. @ammar z @#$% you!

    From azim, on Mon 13 Feb 18:40

  6. i dont get why people ranting about city only won 1 fa­ cup since the owners came in.. so does that mean ­ people expect city to win 19 league cup like man utd in­ just 3 years? Brainless people ...

    From ammar z, on Mon 13 Feb 18:28

  7. learner is worse than ever Ellis was.He should put his­ hand in his pocket & buy some decent young­ players.Mc is grinding us into relegation.gGet him out­ & find someone that is more dedicated to keeping­ Villa in the Premier league.

    From andrew w, on Mon 13 Feb 16:13

  8. villa played 4 defence not for did goal. alll player­ afraid to hold ball. when they collected suddenly they­ long kik d ball to mc side.

    From sunny patel, on Mon 13 Feb 13:47

  9. It's away wins like these that win titles. Everyone­ else had won yesterday, pressure was on and City­ replied with 3 points. That's Champion form.

    From william.oliver5, on Mon 13 Feb 4:00

  10. funny all the bluenoses are larging it up this­ season....u couldn,t get a word out of them last­ season...that,s right they never had all those massive­ signings then did they.

    From MICHAEL, on Mon 13 Feb 3:44

  11. blues last year now its villas turn.should have­ realised he's a useless manager.looks like villa­ will be relagated if they don't pull their socks­ up.

    From andrew w, on Mon 13 Feb 3:44

  12. Hi Andy,

    If United played the way City played today I­ would have been just as critical it was a nothing­ performance you know it and Im sure genuine City fans­ would also agree. I will however concur that a 1-0­ scoreline in your favor is the way to win the league­ after all we have played some awful football during the­ latter half of last year we were @#$% lucky to come out­ with that sort of result. I still firmly feel the­ Derby match will be the decider for this season and­ being honest may the best team win. We have won 12­ times with only Chelsea, Arsenal and Blackburn winning­ on the other occasions . Maybe this will be the year­ for City you hope it is obviously I hope it will be No­ 20 for United

    From Dr Graham J Smith DD, on Mon 13 Feb 3:41

  13. Graham if that game had been the rags,you would be­ saying.Totally outplayed,masterful passing­ display,defensive superiority etc etc.We scored,we hit­ the post,our keeper made one save.Its only a few days­ ago you were saying 1-0 away wins were the results that­ win you premier leagues,well guess what you are­ second,get used to looking up at us,as you have most of­ the season.c.t.i.d.

    From Andy V, on Mon 13 Feb 3:19

  14. When a half decent side sets out to get a 0-0 draw and­ are well organised and totally lacking in attacking­ ambition, they can be hard to break down. Results are­ what counts, not performances although that was as­ comfortable a 1-0 win as any side are likely to get,­ bar one last scare for City. have a feeling with the­ Toures back and Balotelli ( and dare I say, Tevez),­ City will get better and not weaker, When Yaya toure­ plays he is so hard to mark that Silva and Aguero get­ more and more space. And when you give them space, they­ will take you apart

    From GARY, on Mon 13 Feb 3:09

  15. disgruntled villa fans can always come and watch blues.­ Now you know why no blues fans wanted Mcleish hes­ absolutely rubbish now this proves it, wouldnt matter­ what club he was managing he would f^^^ it up

    From JAMES, on Mon 13 Feb 3:09

  16. You shouldn't have sacked O'Neill. Now­ you're paying the price.

    From alex3000000000000000, on Mon 13 Feb 3:01

  17. brilliant clichy not used and nasri only a sub....twats­ should of remembered once a gooner always a gooner

    From N, on Mon 13 Feb 2:58

  18. fireywoman @ 245 - 'shut it you slag' !

    From RICHARD, on Mon 13 Feb 2:25

  19. Rubbish match totally boring. Villa were pathetic and­ to a certain extent City were clueless. 16 shots on­ target 65% possession and what do you have to show for­ it 1 goal. If it wasn't for your superb keeper­ you would have drawn.

    He is the difference between­ City drawing or losing he has been sensational all­ season, one would find it hard to find a better keeper­ in England and probably Europe. If City go onto win­ the league then it will be down To Joe Hart

    From Dr Graham J Smith DD, on Mon 13 Feb 2:25

  20. 257. My point is that a few seasons ago if Ferguson­ seen a weakness in a position he had the funds to go­ out and buy someone as back up. Obviously he can't­ do that now as the money at OT is drying up and it is­ beginning to show.

    From Pejay, on Mon 13 Feb 2:22
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account