Aston Villa 0-0 Wigan Athletic – Premiership Live Blog – 31 January 2009

If the results all go their way this weekend, Aston Villa (47 points), could leap frog from fourth place all the way to being level with Manchester United for first at 50 points. Even if Villa loses to Wigan, fifth place Arsenal (42 points) couldn’t catch them if they beat West Ham at Emirates Stadium. Wigan are tied at 32 points with West Ham in seventh spot, but have a slightly better goal difference. Ninth place Manchester City are four points behind, so Wigan are looking for three points at Villa Park this afternoon to solidify their position. You can follow all the action here at Daily Soccer Blog at kick off, but in the meantime please feel free to leave any comments or predictions below.

Match Preview

Wigan will be looking to avenge an embarassing 4-0 thrashing at home to Villa earlier this season. However, the Birmingham club is on a roll this season and should even be a stronger side now that Emile Heskey has settled in by scoring on his club debut last week. Ironically, this match will feature the England striker making his home debut with Villa playing the club he just left. Norwegian Striker John Carew will also strenghten Villa as he’s recovered fom three months on the shelf with a back injury. However, Marlon Harewood is out with a foor injury and Ashley young is suspended. Captain Martin Laursen is also injured as is Nigel Reo Coker.

Wigan’s keeper Chris Kirkland could be back after missing the midweek draw with Liverpool with a back injury, but winger Antonio Valencia is still on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and newcomer Ben Watson is doubtful. Titus Bramble returns from suspension though.

Villa has won four and drew one in their last five games and are unbeaten in the last 11 league games. Wigan has won two, lost two and drew one in their last five, but are winless in the last three.

Line Ups

Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Knight, Davies, Luke young, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Milner, Heskey, Agbonlahor

Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Carew, Delfouneso, Salifou, Shorey, Osbourne

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, De Ridder, Cattermole, Scharner, Brown, Koumas, Mido,

Subs: Pollitt, Edman, Watson, Rodallega, Cywka, Kapo, Camara

Live Blog

90+4′ The whistle blows and brings a hectic second half to an end and the final result is 0-0.

90+3′ Melchiot works it into the box and crosses for Watson, but Zat Knight is there to clear to safety.

90+1′ Three minutes are added and it’s a free kick for Wigan from 30 yards. Rodallega hammers it into the wall and then thumps the rebound wide.

90′ Davies finds Agbonlahor in the box and it results in panic for Wigan until it’s eventually cleared by Brown.

87′ Wigan finally get some possession in Villa’s end and it results in a free kick from just inside the left corner of the pitch. The kick goes over Mido’s head though.

85′ Free kick from 25 yards for Villa as Bramble takes Carew down and Brown is shown a yellow for dissent. Milner thumps the ball off of the wall though on the free kick.

83′ Kirkland comes out bravely from a backheader by Carew, but it’s called offside.

81′ Luke Young finds Agbonlahor inside the box and his left footer is hammered, but deflected over the bar from 12 yards.

78′ Things have calmed down for a few minutes now.

76′ Substitution for Wigan as Ben Watson comes on for Paul Scharner.

75′ It’s a rare free kick from inside the box, from about 10 yards out. It’s pushed wide to Carew who’s shot is saved and another goalmouth scramble ensues and Kirkland makes a brilliant diving by punching the ball out. It was a pinball sequence with the ball being cleared from the line twice.

74′ A corner from Wigan on the right side is headed away easily. Barry breaks down the right wing and his cross is pushed back to Kirkland from Brown and it’s called as a back pass.

73′ Carew takes a left footer from just inside the box that Kirkland goes down to make a fine save on.

72′ A free kick from Milner 10 yards out of the box ends up in front of the net and somehow the ball stays out in a mad scramble.

70′ Luke Young crosses from the left wing into the box for Agbonlahor who chests it down, turns and shoots high from 12 yards out.

69′ Bramble goes on the attack and hammers the ball over the net from 20 yards.

67′ A quarter of the game to go and Villa are starting to press a little more.

66′ Barry feeds Carew in the box, but his bicycle kick is mis timed.

65′ Another free kick, this time from 35 yards and it’s played out to Milner on the wing, but Wigan are able to clear it downfield.

64′ Free kick for Barry from 30 yards out and Heskey heads it harmlessly back to Wigan.

62′ Substitution for Villa as Craig Gardner departs for striker John Carew. Martin O’Neill is looking to keep the attack up now with added firepower up front.

60′ Curtis Davies of Villa gets the first yellow card as he crunches Michael Brown in a tackle.

59′ Gardner gets a free header, but it’s right into the arms of Kirkland. Wigan counter attack and Mido drives a shot that’s easily caught by Friedel.

58′ That was quite a bit of pressure there for a few minutes and Villa should have taken the lead. It may come back to haunt them in the end.

57′ Gardner breaks into the box and his shot deflects out for a corner which is cleared by Wigan for a second corner. This time Wigan finally get it clear to relieve the pressure.

55′ Figueroa takes down Gardner for a free kick about 10 yards outside of the box. Barry picks out Zat Knight in the box and Knight’s header rebounds off the post.

53′ There’s a lot more pace and spirit to this half already and it looks like both teams know all three  points are there for the taking.

51′ Agbonlahor breaks down the left side but his weak shot is aimed straight at Kirkland.

50′ Milner crosses from the left wing and Figueroa makes a mess of it with calls for handball from the fans. Again no penalty though, and rightly so.

48′ Gardner controls the ball in the box and there’s a question if he’s clipped by Jason Koumas, but no penalty is called.

46′ The second half starts with Wigan bringing on striker Hugo Rodallega for midfielder Daniel De Ridder.

Half Time. It has been a little disappointing so far with not much in the way of goalmouth action. There were some good saves though on the few shots that made it to the net, especially Friedel’s just before half time. You get the feeling that one goal could win this match and at the moment it looks like it’s up for grabs with possession being 50-50 in the first half. James Milner and Gareth Barry had good halves for Villa, while Titus Bramble had a decent showing for Wigan.

45+1′ What a save by Friedel! Figueroa is all alone in the box and Michael Brown picks him out for a free header, but the Villa keeper makes an acrobat save to keep it scoreless as the half time whistle goes.

45′ A corner for Wigan is headed out by Heskey.

42′ Nice ball from Barry to Luke Young just outside the box, but he can’t beat the defender.

39′ Barry crosses from the left wing and it’s a free header for Heskey, but he get’s no power on it and Kirkland has an easy time catching it.

38′ Villa are playing quite a few long balls today with about a 50% success rate so far.

36′ Scharner brings down Agbonlahor about 30 yards out. The free kick’s headed away by Scharner though.

33′ Barry brings down De Ridder just outside of the front right corner of the box. The free kick is headed away right to Cattermole, who proceeds to blast it over the net from 30 yards out.

32′ Milner skips away from Brown down the left wing, but can’t get any further.

31′ Heskey plays a fine ball through to Barry, but Barry isn’t ready for it.

28′ Another shot for Wigan and Friedel’s forced into a fine save this time as Melchiot sends De Ridder through and his right footer is met by a the rushing keeper.

27′ Paul Scharner finally takes a shot on net for Wigan but it’s well wide.

26′ Agbonlahor heads it down toward the post from a corner and it’s almost over the line, but a foul is called on Villa.

24′ Milner crosses from the left and Cattermole clears. Milner gets the ball back and crosses again and Agbonlahor gets his header on target and forces Kirkland into a fine save.

23′ It looks like Capello’s starting to doze off in his seat, can’t really say I blame him.

22′ Well a quarter of the game’s gone and I don’t think Villa keeper Friedel has had to touch the ball yet.

20′ Heskey rises for a header on the end of a long free kick from Villa’s own half, but it’s high in the air and Kirkland has no problem catching it.

19′ Milner whips it into the box only to have Titus Bramble intercept.

17′ Villa are taking their time and passing the ball around nicely, but it’s all in the middle of the park at the moment.

15′ Hand ball by Scharner and the free kick from the halfway line comes to nothing.

13′ Wigan are on the back foot and haven’t really controlled the ball in Villa’s half yet.

11′ Bramble kicks it out for a Villa corner which Barry delivers straight into the arms of keeper Kirkland.

8′ Barry streaks down the left side for Villa and unleashes a shot just outside of the box that is deflected wide, but is wrongly given as a goal kick.

7′ Figueroa takes down Gardner and he’s lucky to escape a yellow card. The free kick is whipped in from the right side, but the ball passes everybody and goes out of play.

5′ Corner for Villa from the left side, but Curtis Davies can’t keep his header down and it’s over the net.

5′ Boyce looks like he’s going to have his handsfull with Agbonlahor today.

4′ Agbonlahor crosses from the left wing past Heskey for  Gardner but he blasts it high and wide

3′ Villa are wearing black armbands in memoery of two former players.

1′ We’re underway with play in the midlle third of the park for the moment.

0′ Ryan Taylor is out for Wigan as it’s rumoured he could be swapped to Newcastle for Charles N’ Zogbia. I hope I pronounced that right.

o’ England manager Fabio Capello is in the stands, but he’s blown off course if he’s looking for Beckham.

0′ I don’t see Zaki in the lineup for Wigan and that’s gotta hurt. I also don’t understand why newcomer Hugo Rodallega isn’t starting up front with Mido. It’s a little bit on the negative side to me from Wigan.

0′ Rob Styles will be the referee today and Villa’s American keeper will be playing in his 176th consecutive premier game.

Reaction

Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa blew the opportunity to draw level with Man Utd, for a few hours at least. However, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Well, in the second half anyway. Villa had numerous chances to bury Wigan in the last 45 minutes, but somehow the ball miraculously never found the back of the net. I would credit luck for this and not Wigan’s defending. If Villa are going to seriously make a push for the title they will have to make sure they get all three points in games like these. It’s basically two points lost not one gained for Villa at this juncture of the season.

Man of the Match

James Milner had a good first half for Villa as did Gareth Barry. However, Milner’s performance tailed off in the last 45 minutes while Barry continued to shine. Figueroa ended up playing a solid game for Wigan and made a couple of important clearances from the goal line while helping out goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. Titus Bramble also played well. But for Man of the Match, I’d definitely go with Gareth Barry for his consistent display and his fine passing today. He picked men out in the box numerous times with some excellent balls.