Angel brace bypasses Claret and Blue Blushes
By James
December 15 2003
A Juan Pablo Angel brace and a Gareth Barry strike made sure Villa gained a maximum three points against their midlands rivals in a 3-2 win, despite making it hard for themselves late on.

Angel snatched two goals within a short space of time in the first half and Villa looked to be heading for a comfortable victory. Wolves however, had not read the script and got one back just before half-time. The claret and blue army started the second half well and managed to restore the two goal lead a few minutes in, nevertheless Wolves grabbed a goal ten minutes from the end to make it a tight affair.

Villa started the brightest and the first chance fell to club captain Olof Mellberg, who had a header cleared off the line from a corner as Villa showed a real pace about their game.

A good chance arose from a free kick when a Villa man was brought down just outside the 18 yard box. It was out of Angel and Hitzlsperger for who was going to strike it and after all the deliberating Juan Pablo shot straight at the wall.

Henri Camara was booked instantly for a slide from behind on JLloyd Samuel as the England Under 21 international did well down the left hand side.

Former claret and blue man Michael Oakes fired a goal kick up field which found Dean Sturridge who would have been through if it wasn’t for a brilliant intervention by Dion Dublin.

Gareth Barry showed a bit of inspiration to brilliantly turn two defenders on the edge of the box and get a cross-shot away, it was drifting just wide and was pleasantly met by the boot of Juan Pablo Angel who directed it in to the net for a Villa lead.

More good work from the wing led to another Angel goal and his 10th of the season. Mark Delaney showed great enthusiasm and willing to race on to a ball which was heading out of play. He slid in and managed to get a low cross over straight to Juan Pablo and the Colombian international placed the ball just out of Oakes’ reach to make it 2-0 Villa.

As soon as that strike had gone in Villa changed to ‘sleep mode’ - they were scrappy from then on in the first half and battled with Wolves for possession in the midfield. Wolves’ Scottish international Alex Rae managed to get one back just before half-time much to the annoyance of the Villa faithful.

Rae had already been tackled once, however poor defending led to the ball being at his feet again and all he had to do was fire a low shot just past Sorensen.

Just before half-time there was a goal mouth scramble, which nearly went in Villa’s favour, however Darius Vassell was alleged to be offside after he put the ball in the net.

HALFTIME – Villa 2 Wolves 1

Villa began the second half just like they did the first and they looked a bit sharper and keen to extend their lead once more. A breakthrough occurred three minutes in as – like with the second– good work down the right from Delaney allowed the ball to get through to Gareth Barry, who, on his weaker right foot, sent the ball crashing past Oakes to make it 3-1.

A recurring injury from the end of the first half meant Stefan Postma had to be introduced to replace Thomas Sorensen in the Villa goal. The Dane had been involved in a collision with Paul Ince after he had attempted to grab the ball.

Postma’s first test was a simple one after Wolves centre-back Paul Butler had headed straight at him. Shortly after however, he had to be at full stretch to block a goal bound long-shot from veteran Paul Ince.

Wolves introduced two new faces in a bid to get back in to the match. Silas and Kenny Miller came on to replace Colin Cameron and Dean Sturridge. Silas had an immediate impact; nonetheless Postma was once again up to the task of keeping the ball out.

Ex-Liverpool man Mark Kennedy had a great chance to reduce the deficit with a free header, although he could only direct it straight at Postma.

Ulises De La Cruz came on for Villa to replace the ineffective Marcus Allbäck. As Darius Vassell had previously being playing on the right wing – De La Cruz now went there and Vassell upfront.

De La Cruz had a poor appearance as he spent the remainder of the match giving the ball away and then chasing around half the pitch to get it back.

This included losing possession which eventually led to Wolves making it 3-2. The Ecuadorian gave the ball away just inside the Villa half and this prompted a break away, which was headed by Mark Kennedy. He did well and showed good pace to get around the Villa defence and fired a low shot past the helpless Postma.

The last 10 minutes was a scrappy affair and Villa had once again made it hard for themselves. They battled away, continuing to lose possession in the midfield which has become a frequent occurrence this season.

The last chance however fell to Villa and it was such a simple one. Good work down the right produced a cross for Angel to surely slot home his third of the game, although he chose to use his left foot instead of his right and fired just wide with the goal at his mercy.

This could have been far more straightforward however it sums up Villa’s season to see that they cannot even comfortably see off Wolves, who sit bottom of the table.

Next up in the league is a tricky away tie at Blackburn on 20th December as Villa once again will hope they can grab their first away win this season and their first away win in 15 matches. The next match the Claret and Blue army will play is on Wednesday 17th December against Chelsea at Villa Park in the Carling Cup.

FULLTIME – Villa 3 Wolves 2

My man of the match: Juan Pablo Angel He worked hard as always and was well rewarded with his 9th and 10th goals of the season, it was just a shame he could not get his hatrick at the end.

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TEAMS

Aston Villa Sorensen (Postma), Delaney, Mellberg, Dublin, Samuel, Vassell, G.McCann, Hitzlsperger, Barry, Angel, Allbäck (De La Cruz). Subs Not Used: Crouch, Johnsen, Whittingham.

Wolves Oakes, Luzhny, Butler, Craddock, Irwin (Naylor), Cameron (Silas), Ince, Rae, Kennedy, Camara, Sturridge (Miller). Subs Not Used: Gudjonsson, Marshall (GK)

Attendance: 36,964

Other News

+ 6ft 7inch Peter Crouch returned from his successful loan spell at Norwich for this game, however he did not make it off the bench. Although he has announced that he is full of confidence following his short-term move.

+ Young Villa man Luke Moore has recently joined Wycombe on loan in a bid to help them avoid relegation and also to get some first team experience.

+ The Villa Youth team recently progressed to the 4th round of the FA Youth cup after overcoming a tough Chelsea side 2-0 at Stamford Bridge – Luke Moore grabbed both of the goals.

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