Aston Villa 2-2 Stoke City

 

  A stunning late fightback earned Stoke a second 2-2 draw in eight days against high-flying Aston Villa at Villa Park yesterday. Withtwo minutes of normal time remaining, the Champions League hopefuls seemed to be heading for a routine win, with Stiliyan Petrov and John Carew giving them a comfortable two goal lead. Centre-back Ryan Shawcross pulled one back for the Potters however, before Irish international Glenn Whelan struck in the first of two minutes of injury time to earn Stoke an unlikely fourth away point of the season in memorable fashion.

Shawcross and Whelan take the applause after earning Stoke a late draw

  After receiving the news prior to the game that on pitch captain, and Senegalese Colossus number one AbdoulayeFaye had been ruled out with a minor back injury, Stoke manager Tony Pulis opted for a new formation, with Faye’s international teammate Ibrahima Sonko coming in as one of three centre-backs, who were helped defensively by Andy Wilkinson and Danny Pugh as wing-backs, and Salif Diao and Amdy Faye as defensive midfielders, leaving a three-man strike force of Liam Lawrence, James Beattie and Mamady Sidibe further up the field, meaning depending on how you see the roles of Wilkinson and Pugh, the formation was either a 5:2:3 or a 3:4:3 for Stoke.

  Meanwhile, former Villa ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen continued in goal for Stoke, who he joined after leaving the Villains in the summer in acrimonious circumstances and Jamaican forward Ricardo Fuller took his place amongst the Stoke substitutes, just three weeks after suffering a dislocated shoulder that could well have ended his season.

  After resting eight first-team players for the mid-week UEFA Cup defeat to Russians CSKA Moscow, which eliminated the club from European competition, Villa boss Martin O’ Neill showed that his priorities lie with the Premier League, fielding the strongest side available to him, including the livewire attacking players Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Agbonlahor returned to the thick of the action for Villa

  Unsurprisingly, given their Champions League credentials and Stoke’s woeful away form this season, it was the home side who made the better start, Agbonlahor and former Wigan striker Emile Heskey causing problems for the Stoke defence, with Danny Higginbotham making a fine clearance after just eight minutes when Sorensen failed to deal with Villa full-back Luke Young’s centre.

  Stoke rarely ventured forward in a first half in which Villa dominated possession, though the Stoke rearguard dealt admirably with all that was thrown their way for the majority of the half, with Sonko blocking well from Agbonlahor, before displaying his dreadful distribution, hitting three precise passes to absolutely no-one in quick succession.

  In the final minute of the half, just as it seemed the Potters would make it to the interval unscathed, O’ Neill’s side made a deserved breakthrough. Bulgarian international midfielder Petrov picking up the ball on the edge of the Stoke penalty area, and hitting a stinging shot through a maze of bodies in the box. Sorensen must have seen it late, as he failed to follow the flight of the ball, diving past it and allowing it to nestle in the back of the net. Though it is difficult for a goalkeeper to deal with such a vicious strike when seeing it late, this must go down as a mistake from the Danish number one, who would be substituted at half time and replaced by Steve Simonsen after complaining of nausea after sustaining a blow to the head in a collision with Agbonlahor.

Petrov’s strike evades Sorensen to give Villa the lead

  The second half began quietly, and with Stoke’s clear plan to play for a goalless draw out of the window, Pulis decided it was time for an attacking change on 55 minutes, introducing top-scorer Fuller in place of Pugh and in doing so reverting to a more conventional formation, though in Fuller, Beattie and Sidibe, three recognised forwards remained on the pitch.

  The Jamaican made an instant impact for Stoke revitalising the team’s efforts and giving a clearer focus to play. After sending a speculative volley over the crossbar, the lively Fuller found himself one on one with Villa’s American ‘keeper Brad Friedel, who he had spectacularly scored past in Stoke’s 3-2 win in the return fixture back in August, that strike being voted by Sky Sports News to be the second best goal scored in 2008. There was to be no repeat of his goalscoring feat however, as Luke Young made a sublime last-gasp tackle, cleanly winning the ball and preventing what seemed a likely goal.

  Despite the visitors enjoying their best spell of the game, Villa’s advantage was doubled in the 79th minute, Norweigan striker John Carew, who also scored in that game in August giving the home side a two goal lead that seemed unassailable. The ball dropped kindly for him on the edge of the box, and he wasted no time in sending it goalwards on the volley. What happened next can either be considered to be a sublime act of awareness, judgement and execution, or an incredible fluke, as the ball flew perfectly over the head of Simonsen, who was fractionally off his line and into the goal. I’m tending towards thinking it was a combination of the two, as Carew was clearly trying to direct the ball goalwards, and did well to do so, but to have it loop over Simonsen so perfectly has to be more down to luck that judgment.

Carew celebrates doubling the advantage

  With a mountain to climb, Stoke pushed forward more in hope than expectation and came close to pulling a goal back just minutes later, when Whelan, who had come on as a substitute for Amdy Faye midway through the half struck an upright with a powerful, low, left-footed shot fron twenty yards. It was a warning to Villa that Stoke were still in the game, but it seemed that few in the home side’s ranks took it seriously, as they showed what O’ Neill described as ”complacency” in their defending as they allowed Stoke back into a game that they should have seen out comfortably.

  With two minutes of normal time remaining, Beattie, who had arguably been Stoke’s best player on the day received the ball from Wilkinson and sent in an accurate cross, which was met well by Shawcross, who had headed a similar chance over earlier, ten yards out, and sent past the helpless Friedel and into the bottom corner of his net. It was the first goal of the season for the 21 year old, who scored eight times last term and it served to give Stoke hope in the two minutes of stoppage time added by referee Howard Webb that remained.

  With Villa looking nervy and time running out, Stoke resorted to the tactic that has worked so well during Pulis’s reign as manager, a long ball to the head of a striker, this time it being Diao who sent the ball forward and Fuller who rose excellently to knock it down to Sidibe on the edge of the box. The Malian international striker saw his shot charged down however, but the ball sat up perfectly for Whelan twenty yards out, and the Irishman found the net this time, sending a powerful low dive past the despairing dive of Friedel sending the Stoke fans who had made the short trip south wild. It was the first goal from outside the area we have scored in the Premier League this season, and Whelan’s first ever Premier League goal. Most importantly though, it was enough to give us a fantastic point from what looked like a certain losing situation.

 
Whelan fires the equaliser past Friedel and into the net

  While it is excellent to get a point away at a side like Villa, who must be sick of the site of Stoke by now (21% of our league goals have come against them), the manner in which we achieved it makes it even more special. We showed the fighting spirit and never say die attitude that will be necessary if we are to survive in the Premier League this season. The late comeback also gives us crucial confidence and momentum going into Wednesday night’s vital home fixture against Bolton, who have themselves been on good form recently and have broken into the first half.

  I was expecting Stoke to lose the game, and at 2-0 down with two minutes left I was planning on writing here about how of all our remaining fixtures, Villa was the least important as no-one expected us to get anything, whereas the next two home games against Bolton and Middlesbrough will prove vital. Instead, I am heralding a fantastic result that comes as a big bonus as the season reaches its climax and one that could well be a springboard for our performances in the run-in. Let’s hope so.

Stoke side: (5:2:3/3:4:3/4:5:1)

                                     Sorensen

                 Sonko  Shawcross  Higginbotham
        Wilkinson                                           Pugh
                               Amdy Faye  Diao
                  Lawrence                         Sidibe
                                       Beattie

Substitutions: Simonsen for Sorensen (46), Fuller for Pugh (54), Whelan for Amdy Faye (64)

Subs not used: Kelly, Cort, Cresswell, Camara

Attendance: 39,641