Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn

Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn

FA Cup 3rd Round Saturday 2nd January

A Villa Park crowd of 25,453 saw the team record a largely comfortable victory against mediocre opposition to advance to the next round of the recently- neglected FA Cup.
The tradition and romanticism of the FA Cup has given way to Champions League aspirations and Premier league finance these days and these teams will meet again in Tuesday’s Carling Cup semi final. With these considerations in mind, Martin O’Neill opted to blend the experience with promising fringe players. The Blackburn support stayed away, leaving 50-odd away fans to fade away in the Saturday sleet. Today’s Wigan-Hull FA Cup fixture mustered a measly 5,335 so Villa Park’s turnout was respectable although the atmosphere had the air of a training game at times.

Villa’s young players shone in the first half, with Delfuoneso and Delph bursting forward with pace and intent: Reo Coker, captaining the side, was stubborn and resilient, winning possession and distributing neatly. Young was influential in his return from suspension, providing the cross for Delfuoneso’s opening goal in the 12th minute and his constant surging runs troubled Blackburn’s defence. Young should have made the margin of victory greater but a one on one with keeper Brown ended with a low parried shot when a goal seemed more likely.

Villa were cruelly shown the value of clinical finishing by Torres in Tuesday’s match with Liverpool and O’Neill’s hints tonight that he is looking for another striker in January are welcomed. However, this was not a game of small margins and despite a dubious penalty which was saved well by Guzan, and an error by the same, dropping the ball into his own net to give Blackburn a glimmer of hope, Villa were rarely troubled, and dominated possession: Diouf was evidently frustrated and his two footed, late lunging tackle on Beye saw his dismissal midway through the first half. Cuellar’s headed goal on 37 minutes was untroubled by a challenge and Carew sealed a comfortable victory with a laid back penalty on 91 minutes after being shoved to the ground.

Despite Blackburn substitute Dunn’s best efforts in the second half, Villa were comfortable and will go into Tuesday’s Carling Cup clash with a stronger starting eleven, and real confidence.

Aston Villa 3 - 1 Blackburn - FA Cup 3rd Round Player Ratings

Brad Guzan (6) - Not a performance to judge Brad on. He had so little to do. He saved a poorly struck penalty, dropped a cross in the second half which potentially gave the opposition a lifeline. Aside from that Blackburn were devoid of any creativity and cutting edge to trouble him.

Habib Beye (6) - A comfortable performance which saw him take a few more attacking risks than Luke Young normally would. Created a few openings in the first half, made some incisive tackles. Second half performance was comfortable if not slightly error prone at times. Match fitness was obviously an issue.

Carlos Cuellar (7) - A solid defensive performance capped with a well taken header. Blackburn showed no movement or creative play to drag him out of position. Solid as usual.

James Collins (7) - Collins' first start since returning from injury. He would not have wished for a better game to return to premier league pace. Looked solid in the air and tight to the man defensively.

Stephen Warnock (6) - Another solid performance and showed some guile going forward without a great deal of success. Final ball into the box could be better.

Stuart Downing (6) - Showed some nice touches on the ball and delivered a few testing crosses. Still not fully fit and confident, he has a different quality to other midfielders we have.

Nigel Reo-Coker (8) - A Man of the Match performance, Reo-Coker has the fitness and work-rate unlike any of our players. Even his distribution of the ball has improved and was a constant threat to Blackburn's Midfield.

Fabian Delph (7) - He could become our pivotal midfielder in years to come. The potential is definitely there. He has a great left foot which he used to constant effect on the first half. He showed great desire in the tackle. Unfortunately was substituted at half time for Sidwell.

Steven Sidwell (5) (sub) - Made a couple of tackles but could not use the ball as effectively as Delph. Was quite happy to play simple passes as we kept possession for lengthy amounts of the second half.

Ashley Young (8) - Potential Man of the Match performance. Without setting the game alight he constantly tormented the Full Backs without much success. Provided 2 crucial assists with quality delivery. Should have finished a 1 on 1 opportunity to kill the game in the first half only to scuff the chance. Ashley Young from 2008 would have smashed this Blackburn Defence. Worked hard for the team and regained possession countless times.

Emile Heskey (7) - Wasted a glorious 1 on 1 opportunity in the second half. Other than that played exceptionally well linking the midfield to attack and bringing a more cohesive Villa performance. The missing man from the Liverpool game as we struggled to create from midfield.

Nathan Delfouneso (7) - Composed performance showing potential. Once he becomes more of a fixture in the first team he will develop greatly. At times he tries harder than he needs to. Drops back into midfield to receive the ball which is a great attribute that is missing from our other strikers.

John Carew (Sub) (6) - Headed narrowly over the bar not long before winning the penalty that sealed the tie. Slotted his penalty away with confidence and ease. Unspectacular but functional.