Mendieta marvels as Villa are vapid
By James
November 10 2003
Midfield maestro Gaizka Mendieta ran the game for Boro at Villa Park, where Villa turned out their worst home performance of the season and thus lost their un-beaten home record.

The predictable abuse was given to the two ex-villa men George Boateng and Gareth Southgate. Both were booed on their every touch of the ball, more-so Boateng than Southgate however. Although this did not deter their performances; the heckling spurred them on more than anything.

The Middlesbrough midfield looked lively with Juninho and Mendieta adding the Brazilian and Spanish flair needed to spice up a game which lacked real action. Juninho was the first to test Sorensen in the fourth minute, however his shot lacked conviction and Sorensen saved with ease.

Angel looked to have had a great chance for an opener minutes later, however his determination to put the ball onto his right foot, rather than his weaker left led to the ball going for a goal kick. With Darius Vassell deemed not fit enough to start Marcus Allback partnered Angel in his place and he was the first man to test 6ft 5inch keeper Carlo Nash, however his weak header was easily saved by the ex-Man City stopper.

Villa had enjoyed most of the early possession, although they carried on their recent form and did not have that final striking point in the last third of the pitch.

Villa were left stunned on the half hour mark when Boudewijn Zenden grabbed his first goal for Boro with a well taken header from a quick break-away. Frank Queudrue supplied the cross from the left hand side of the field and Zenden rose un-challenged to power the ball into the back of the net, which sent the small support from Cleveland into raptures.

Shots continued to fire in from Villa players, however it was all to no avail. Hendrie, McCann and Angel all fired over within quick succession as did Mendieta for Middlesbrough. Angel wasted a good chance for a break when he fired well wide from the half way line – this summed up Villa’s first half.

The team left to a chorus of boo’s at half-time and rightly so as the Villa players had failed to produce a decent display by any means.

HALFTIME - Villa 0 Middlesbrough 1

Immediately from the start of the second half things went from bad to worse for O’Leary’s men. Lee Hendrie foolishly gave the ball away in the Middlesbrough half and then proceeded to chase Zenden all the way back into the Villa penalty area and promptly send him to the floor. Villa could have no complaints for the penalty being awarded and Thomas Sorensen was unable to save Hendrie’s blushes as Michael Ricketts stepped up to bury the spot kick into the bottom left corner.

O’Leary then took some action of his own by bringing off Hendrie and Barry – both had given nothing to the game – and they were replaced by Darius Vassell and Thomas Hitzlsperger.

Neither managed to really get into the game, Hitzlsperger fired strait at Nash on the hour mark with a powerful volley and Vassell also put the ball straight to the goalkeeper moments later. Hitzlsperger had a late flurry of long-shots; however nothing was working for Villa, who threw on Dion Dublin as a late sub. The damage had been done minutes after the restart and Villa never really looked like they were capable of getting back into the match.

Gaizka Mendieta ran the game for Middlesbrough with his precise passing and positive tackling; this led to Villa fans asking questions of why they do not have any inspirational players in on-loan?? Mendieta and Zenden were arguably Boro’s best players, yet they do not even play for the club permanently. Senior Mendieta was a class above and clearly showed that he was once one of the best midfielders in Europe who – at one time - cost a massive 28.9 million when he left Valencia for Lazio.

The Holte End vented their anger to the performance with a few stints of seat banging, prior to the end of the match – seats were being lifted up and down to create a loud noise in protestation. Many fans left the ground early and there maybe a few more empty seats than there was today if supporters decide to vote with their feet and stay away from the next home game against Southampton.

The biggest cheer of the day for the Villa fans was before their match even kicked-off. Events at Molineux were being listened to/watched and Steffen Iversen’s bundled in goal for Wolves against the Blues was greeted by a massive cheer in the Holte Bar.

Despite the Blues failing to win it was a disastrously poor display from Villa, which will hopefully now show O’Leary that he needs to get things sorted at the club. It’s OK being ‘hard to beat’ but you need to get three points and this was not even the case today. If David O’Leary does not sort things out soon then Villa will have a relegation battle on their hands.

FULLTIME - Villa 0 Middlesbrough 2

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