A Week off from the Pub: Villa v. Hereford, 23 August 2011 and Villa v. Wolves, 27 August 2011

GOOOOOOOLAZO!  Gabby Celebrates his Wonderstrike v. Blackburn
Credit: Football 365.com

What a difference a week makes.  After failing to get off the mark against Fulham, all three of Villa's nominal senior strikers got into the record books for the 2011-2012 campaign at Villa Park.  Gabby Agbonlahor, who had a scintillating first half before leaving to a hamstring bruise at the interval, opened the scoring with a wonderful curling strike from the left edge of the area after turning Michel Salgado inside out.  Gabby then laid off an incisive pass from Man of the Match Fabian Delph to Emile Heskey, who poked it past Rovers keeper Paul Robinson from the right side of the D.  In the second half, Blackburn clawed one back after Villa bete noir Morten Gamst Pedersen headed home a nice cross from Junior Hoillet, but Villa put the game out of reach through Darren Bent, who picked up a pass-cum-shot from Stiliyan Petrov that deflected off of a Blackburn defender and knocked a left-footed strike over Robinson.  Credit to Alex McLeish, who was received well, for making positive, attacking substitutions.  The introduction of Barry Bannan at 65 minutes, in particular, helped Villa to clamp down on the resurgent Rovers, and his interplay in the attacking third led to Petrov's assist and many more chances for the Villa. Not a bad home start at all for the controversial appointment.

Villa will next play Hereford in the second round of the League Cup, tomorrow at 3 Eastern.  Nowhere is showing the match, but Villa should win comfortably.  Gabby Agbonlahor is doubtful after taking a kick on the hamstring from Paul Robinson late in the first half.

At the weekend, Villa stay at B6 and play host to second place (!) Wolves.  Mick McCarthy's upstarts have been flying early, snatching a 2-1 come from behind win at Ewood Park and spanking Fulham at home 2-0.  The match will be on ESPN3; since it's the early game (7:05 a.m. EDT kickoff), not a pub in the district will be open.  Take the weekend to recover, watch the stream from your homes, and we'll be back next week!

The kickoff after the kickoff- Villa v. Blackburn, 20 August, 2011, 10 a.m. EDT

Brick.  Wall. (credit: football365.com)

Well, nil-nil means the other team didn't score.  New 'keeper Shay Given put on a masterclass, almost Jedi-ing Fulham to shoot the ball at him.  After a dominant first half, Villa looked a little leggy in seeing out the second half and posting their first away clean sheet since April of 2010. 

Unfortunately, the match also saw the Great Wall of Ireland suffer a slight groin strain, leading to James Collins taking goal kicks for the last half hour of the match.  The EPL website lists him as a doubt for Saturday's match, against Blackburn.  Villa's last meeting was in Hong Kong during the preseason, a match which Villa won 1-0 through Darren Bent's smooth strike off of Stephen Warnock's knockdown of a cross from wee Barry Bannan.  Rovers opened their campaign in earnest with a 2-1 loss to Wolves at Ewood Park. 

Other than Given, Villa will likely be without Spanish Colossus Carlos Cuellar, still recovering from offseason knee surgery. 

Capital Villans will be taking the match in at the Queen Vic, on 12th and H NE.  Come join us starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday!