A double from Ashley Young was enough to see Gerard Houllier’s men record a well-deserved victory against a below-par Rovers side.
Villa have knocked Rovers out of both domestic cup competitions for two consecutive seasons and started the game full of confidence with their 3-1 FA Cup victory over the Lancashire club in January clearly fresh in their mind.
The game began at a slow tempo but it was the home side that had the first sight of goal when young full-back Kyle Walker was fouled by Morten Gamst Pedersen on the Aston Villa right. Ashley Young’s free-kick was cleared from a corner and from the resulting set-piece center-half Richard Dunne’s header had to be scrambled away by a frantic Blackburn defense.
And it was from another corner that Villa had their first shot in anger. Once again the Rovers defense failed to deal with the threat of Dunne, only for Robert Pires to fire wildly over the crossbar when the ball squirmed loose on the edge of the box.
Despite matching Villa with a five-man midfield, Steve Kean’s side seemed unable to keep hold of the ball, constantly gifting possession to Villa – allowing the likes of Young far too much time on the ball.
Young and Darren Bent were England’s goal-scoring heroes in a recent international and certainly look like they are singing from the same hymn sheet. First, Young’s superb cross-field ball was just inches from playing the striker in on goal and moments later Bent tested Rovers’ goalkeeper Paul Robinson with a low shot from the edge of the area after he had been fed by Young once again.
With plenty of goals between the two sides in recent history, a cagey first half was perhaps on the cards.
Villa’s early dominance slowly drained away as the game was played in the middle third of the pitch for long periods – with neither side looking like troubling the opposition’s defense, never mind the ‘keeper.
With 30 minutes on the clock, the home side had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down by referee Martin Atkinson – who confidently waved away Bent’s claims after the England striker appeared to have been upended by Grant Hanley as he tried to swivel and get a shot away,
Young Villa left-back Nathan Baker, playing his first game since being sent off in the game between these two sides in the FA Cup a month ago, was forced off towards the end of the half after taking an unintentional punch from Robinson as the former England number one punched a free-kick clear. Baker was replaced by Fabian Delph, with the young midfielder forced to do a job at left-back due to Villa’s defensive injury problems.
With five minutes to go in the half, the home side suddenly woke up and began to apply some pressure to the Rovers’ goal.
Right-back Walker tested Robinson from long range with the ‘keeper only able to parry the fierce drive towards Young, who fired wildly over.
And with Rovers’ on the back foot, it was Robinson to the rescue again. A Villa counter-attack allowed Stewart Downing to find Pires on the edge of the box. The Frenchman cleverly clipped the ball across the six-yard area, with Robinson having to be at full stretch to prevent Bent from tapping in from close range.
Before the half ended there was yet another chance for Villa. Bent seemed certain to score after being slid in on Robinson’s goal but the striker tried to be too clever and turn inside Ryan Nelsen, who did well to get a foot to the ball and allow his ‘keeper to pick up the loose ball – ensuring that both sides went into the dressing rooms all square.
Rovers started the second half brightly but found themselves behind after just a matter of minutes – courtesy of an Ashley Young penalty.
Keith Andrews dallied on the ball near his own goal line, allowing Young to steal the ball from him. But before the Villa attacker to break into the box, he was tugged to down by Andrews – leaving Martin Atkinson no choice but to point to the spot. Young coolly dispatched the spot-kick past Robinson to give Villa the perfect start to the second period.
As Rovers reeled from conceding the opener, Villa grew in confidence and stepped up a gear – something which they always looked capable of in the first half.
With Pires pulling the strings from a slightly deeper midfield role and Marc Albrighton full of running down the left flank, it wasn’t long before there was another goal-scoring chance from the home side.
Albrighton out-paced Michel Salgado and cut a low ball across the box but unfortunately for the Villa fans, in good voice behind Robinson’s goal, Bent could not turn the ball goal-wards.
With Blackburn offering nothing going forward, it was Villa whose took the game by the scruff of its neck with two more goals in the space of a couple of minutes.
Firstly, a corner found its way to the far post where Albrighton did well to cut inside Salgado and fire a low shot on goal that appeared to be going well wide until it took an unlucky deflection of Rovers’ defender Grant Hanley and flew past a stranded Robinson.
Steve Kean responded by throwing on strikers Nikola Kalinic and Jason Roberts but within a minute or two they were three behind.
A Villa counter-attack saw Young fouled on the halfway line but Martin Atkinson played a clever advantage – allowing Downing to race clear on the right flank. The winger was in behind the Rovers’ defense and made no mistake in cutting inside and side-footing past Robinson.
With both sides making changes and the game seemingly to be heading to a foregone conclusion, there was suddenly another spurt of action – in a game that only seemed to produce goals in twos.
Substitute Nikola Kalinic appeared to have given Rovers a glimmer of hope when his long range strike was aided by a huge deflection from Dunne, ensuring it looped over the stranded Brad Friedel.
But before Rovers could even think about a comeback, Villa had made it four. Young found Downing in plenty of space on the right and the winger was allowed to waltz into the box by Martin Olsson.
Young had continued his run and comfortably stroked the return pass from Downing into the back of the net from inside the box.
With Villa comfortably in control, the final ten minutes were played out in the Rovers half, with the only real action being a red card for their skipper Ryan Nelsen – who dragged down Young in stoppage time after the attacker had beaten him for pace and was through on goal.
American midfielder Jermaine Jones played the full 90 in the middle for Blackburn, picking up a yellow card in the process, while Brad Friedel helped Villa to the win from his normal spot in goal. Michael Bradley did not see any action.
Steve Kean will be disappointed that his team simply didn’t show up today but it is an important three points for Villa, who move above Rovers in the table and climb away from the relegation zone.
Continued here:
Aston Villa 4-1 Blackburn Rovers: Ashley Young Nets Double To Earn Easy Victory