Virtuoso Vassell foils faltering Fulham
By James
December 30 2003
Darius Vassell ended a 9 month scoring drought by grabbing a brace in a game which Villa had clear domination. Juan Pablo Angel had added an earlier strike as Villa ran out 3-0 winners.

Villa have had a superb Christmas on the playing field; a great victory over millionaires Chelsea in the Carling Cup, a first away win in 15 matches and to top it off a thrilling display against a team who began proceedings 4th in the league.

Fulham were clearly not at their best, but taking nothing away from Aston Villa, who worked hard and put in a convincing display. This turned what could have been a tricky fixture on its head as it was made to look easy.

Juan Pablo Angel also carried on his superb scoring rate as he grabbed his 8th Premiership goal of the season, however hopefully Villa will decline any interest which may come up about him.

As the match began Fulham started to look worthy of their 4th place in the league and caused problems in defence for Villa. This was most notably as Thomas Sorensen somehow kept out a shot from very close range to deny Steed Malbranque.

Minutes before Lee Hendrie nearly made a real mess of a clearance after a Goma header had to be cleared off the line. The Ex-England man hit the clearance straight at a Fulham body, however he got lucky and the ball went out for a goal-kick.

Angel was left unmarked on ten minutes and he could have taken his time, however he hit the shot straight away on the volley and Van Der Sar made a great diving stop in the Fulham goal. The Dutchman clearly sending out a message to his opposite number, in that anything you can do I can equally.

A few chances came for either side, Japanese star Junichi Inamoto fired over and Lee Clark saw a rasping shot go straight over the bar as Fulham nerved the Villa back line.

Villa then had their chances when Delaney fired a pile driver wide and shortly after Gavin McCann showed he is not a midfielder who is likely to get many goals from long shots as he also fired well wide.

Just past the half hour mark Villa had a corner which was consequently cleared, however JLloyd Samuel reacted quickly to win the ball back and speed down the left wing. He beat a few players and put in a superb cross to allow Juan Pablo Angel to just flip the ball in to the roof of the net and claim his 13th goal in a Villa shirt this season.

Chances flooded in for Villa shortly after as they looked to put Fulham to bed before half-time. Vassell charged after the ball, desperate to break his deadlock after good work from the goalscorer Angel, although the England international was beaten to the ball by Van Der Sar.

HALFTIME – Villa 1 Fulham 0

Saha, who had failed to impress during the first 45 aimed to show why Manchester United have shown an interest in him, however he was reduced to a long shot shortly after half-time which wasn’t a problem for Sorensen.

The Frenchman then so nearly showed why he is valued so highly by the Londoners as he picked up the ball, turned and shot just wide. That could have been a goal out of nothing and would have easily allowed Fulham back in to the game.

Villa piled on the pressure looking to put this game beyond doubt, after Saha’s warning effort. Barry had a poor shot and minutes after he was two inches away from turning provider for an Angel goal. The Colombian just could not get on the end of the cross from the ever improving Gareth Barry.

Calls of ‘Barry for England’ could be heard from the Holte End before the match and since Barry has returned to his left hand side role he has looked far more comfortable than when he was in the middle of the park.

Mark Delaney looked to have picked up yet another injury and he is rapidly becoming some kind of sick note. However, there was a positive move to come out of his substitution as Delaney paved the way for youngster Liam Ridgewell, who came on in the centre as Mellberg moved to right-back.

With just over 20 minutes to go the biggest drought since there was hardly any rain in the summer of 2003 ended. Darius Vassell finally notched up a goal at Villa Park, where he hadn’t done so since, coincidentally the first match of the year. The England international finished beautifully from a deep JLloyd Samuel cross as he slotted the ball between the legs of Dutch ‘keeper Edwin Van Der Sar.

Saha had two chances with around ten minutes remaining as he looked to get Fulham back in to the game. The first was a dubious free-kick right on the edge of the 18 yard box; however he failed to trouble Sorensen as he struck it over the bar. Minutes later, from a Fulham corner Saha nearly opened his account, however Sorensen blocked well and duly fell on the ball.

Vassell’s goal scoring wasn’t over yet though and he put the icing on the cake for Villa in a game which they had put in a superb 90 minute performance. Yet another left wing cross led to the goal, this time from second half sub Thomas Hitzlsperger. Darius finished expertly with a left footed volley and left Van Der Sar with no chance.

Angel was subbed with just over 5 minutes to go and he left the pitch to a standing ovation which was well deserved as once again he left with a goal and the knowledge that he had worked very hard.

Fulham were easily outplayed by a Villa team clearly on top of their game at the current time, on this performance the London team will find it hard to stick to their 4th place that they began the match with.

Next up for Villa is a difficult FA Cup match against Manchester United, they were dumped out of the cup at this stage by United two seasons ago and will not want a repeat, especially after being 2-0 up in that same match.

FULLTIME – Villa 3 Fulham 0

My man of the match: Darius Vassell He deserved his two goals and has been waiting a long time for them. Superb finishes for both goals with his weaker left foot and hopefully now this can start a good run for the England International.

TEAMS

Aston Villa Sorensen, Delaney (Ridgewell), Mellberg, Johnsen, Samuel, Hendrie (Hitzlsperger), G.McCann, Whittingham, Barry, Angel (S.Moore), Vassell. Subs Not Used: Crouch, Postma (GK).

Fulham Van Der Sar, Knight, Volz, Harley, Djetou, Goma, Malbranque (Sava), Inamoto (Hayles), Clark, Boa Morte, Saha. Subs Not Used: Green, Melville, Crossley (GK)

Attendance: 35,617

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