Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers | Scott Murray

• Send your match day musings to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher • Click here for the latest stats and tables • If you are bored and want to watch TV, click here 63 min: Henry is booked for a pull back on Petrov. “Is that Ringo Starr on the bottom right of the photo of Kevin Doyle?” wonders Rob Preece. “Singing A Yellow and Gold Submarine?” Nah, he’s not holding up the Vs and banging on about peace and loving each other (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And he’s in a good mood. It’s not Ringo. 61 min: N’Zogbia powers down the inside-left channel and, upon reaching the byline, hits a low ball into the six-yard area. Hennessey, who is earning his pay, as much as Premier League footballers ever can, gets down well to throw a blanket over a very dangerous fire. “Stephen Ward may be looking decent at left back for Wolves,” opines Daragh Robinson. “But the real question is whether he can displace the immovable object that is Kevin Kilbane from the ROI side? 66 competitive games in a row and counting!” 59 min: This is such an improvement from Villa. First Agbonlahor twists and turns by the penalty spot, but can’t get a shot away. Then Hunt heads a powerful Dunne header off the line. And finally Hennessey tips a majestic Herd header over the bar. Wolves hold on, but they’re beginning to rock as Villa apply pressure. 57 min: Another Villa corner, the 585th of the half. But not for the first time in the match, Petrov’s delivery is poor, allowing Wolves to break upfield down the left. Doyle looks to have skinned Warnock in order to race clear into the area, but the referee gives the full back a generous benefit of the doubt as the full back falls to the floor. “A missive from pedant’s corner here,” begins Nick Turnbull, promisingly, “but weren’t Liverpool top before Bolton – Man City last Sunday by virtue of having played the lunchtime Saturday match? Or are we talking top at the start of the ‘gameweek’. With each email I hate modern football more and more.” That’s the spirit. Only nine months to go until the next summer of sport! 55 min: This is a much improved performance from the Villa. Wolves can’t string two passes together at the moment. They’ll need to settle this down soon, because the home side’s tails are up. Petrov wins a corner down the right; he’s seeing a lot of the ball. Nothing comes of it. 52 min: A free kick for Villa, 30 yards out, just right of centre. N’Zogbia hits a lame effort straight at Hennessey, who swallows it like a tot of fine cognac. 50 min: A ski-slope run by Agbonlahor down the left. He cuts into the area and sends a low shot towards the far corner. It’s a great effort, and going in, but Hennessey gets down well to palm it out. Wolves hack it clear before Heskey or N’Zogbia can tap it in. The crowd are suddenly up for this. 49 min: Herd, who hasn’t been put off by clattering into the post earlier on at all, gets his head to a right-side Petrov corner. He can only steer the ball wide right and handsomely high, though. Wolves have hardly touched the thing since the restart. “Any chance we’ll see playmaker and former footballer Stephen Ireland?” asks Chris Murray. “I find his decline intriguing. One wonders whether he is McLeish’s sort of player. In his day he might have livened up this drab encounter, and shown us his pants.” 47 min: N’Zogbia robs Ward down the right and so nearly manages to break free into the area, but the full-back fights back well to deny the Villa man. A few seconds later, Herd bustles down the same wing and sends a cross over that only just evades Heskey. This is a sprightly start by Villa: McLeish, a disciple of Alex Ferguson, may well have turned the hairdryer on. And we’re off again! Wolves have gone 43 games without a goalless draw, according to Sky. You know what’s coming up, then. And to further take the shine off this encounter, here’s Nick Einhorn: “This is only the second top-of-the-table showdown of the season. The first was last weekend, when Bolton and Manchester City, tied for 1st, played each other.” Half-time optimism: “Looks like you’re making the best of a poor match,” writes Rick Short, very kindly. We aim to please. “I want to add to the comments on new season optimism ending after August. As a Sunderland supporter, I had no optimism when I learned that ‘Clattermole’ remains our captain. But he is consistent, we’ll give him that. Brainless, but consistently so. My hope is for our poor early season form to continue therefore bringing the promise of ‘the fat Geordie bastard’ being sacked. Far better to relocate our mid-season slump to the start of the season if it brings such a result? To get back on topic with Villa (almost), Martin O’Neill please prepare to take over at Sunderland!” HALF TIME: Aston Villa 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers. That was… that was… that was a half of football. The teams walk off to a very muted reception. 45 min +2: From the edge of the area Dunne, that Nándor Hidegkuti in the making, scoops a clever pass down the inside-right channel over the Wolves back line to set Heskey free. The striker tries to get a shot on goal from a tight angle, but his effort is crowded out for a corner. Which is wasted. 45 min: O’Hara is booked for a cynical trip on Petrov as the Villa man looks to burst purposefully into space down the middle. 43 min: Villa seeing a lot of the ball, but doing nothing with it. “As someone who has never felt the need to invoke a right to brag, I hate the term ‘bragging rights’, but if this match isn’t about bragging rights, what is it about?” riddles Gary Naylor, the Gyles Brandreth de nos jours . “The battle for the prestigious tenth spot come the end of the season?” 40 min: A corner for Villa down the left. Petrov swings it in to the edge of the six-yard box where, at the near post, Herd flicks a header wide left and high. Not a great effort, but a brave one, seeing he took one hell of a clatter earlier on. 38 min: At last, an extended period of pointless midfield passing. Wolves will be perfectly happy with this. The Villa crowd appear less so. They’re not agitated, just quiet. 34 min: A brilliant run by Petrov down the inside-left channel, set free by a delicious ball from Warnock on the wing. Petrov reaches the byline, but with Heskey and N’Zogbia screaming for it in the middle, sends his low centre too close to Hennessey, who claims bravely at the shoes of Heskey. “Can one take a good hard look at one’s rubbish life, and despondency at the crushing feeling of predictability in top-flight football, over a cuppa from home if one hasn’t gone to t’match?” asks Alex Simpson. “I have this feeling that early-season optimism shouldn’t last beyond August.” Dear me, you sound in a bad way. It’s not a cup of gin you’re cradling, is it? 31 min: Wolves push Villa back down the right, the ball finding O’Hara in the centre, who flashes a header wide left. It’s not terrible, this match, but it’s all a bit… I dunno… it’s all a bit nearly . 28 min: “Why on earth are there two games kicking off before 3pm today?” asks Nick Turnbull. “I don’t think Wigan or QPR were in Europe this week. That still wouldn’t make sense, actually. The radio commentary just announced: ‘HESKEY! Just wide…’ At least some thing’s don’t change.” Here’s some more classic Heskey: Delph and Petrov slip a couple of passes together to create space in front of the area for the big striker, but with time to shoot, he accidentally toe pokes the ball forward and loses possession. The sort of action that should be soundtracked by a muted trumpet. 25 min: Finally, some action! Agbonlahor skins Stearman down the left and zips a low cross towards the six-yard box. On the corner, just to the left of goal, Heskey slides in and whips a hard, low effort inches wide of the post. Half the crowd thought that was in, and no wonder. Fine, incisive football. 24 min: There really isn’t much going on. It’s kind of strange, because most of the game is being played out at the ends of the pitch, there’s not too much faffing around in the middle, but passes aren’t sticking. And when teams win free kicks in dangerous positions, or corners, they waste them. Pah. 20 min: Doyle swings a deep cross from the left to Hunt, who doesn’t catch his close-range header flush at the far post. Given is able to parry, and turn the ball away from danger. 17 min: A strong run from Agbonlahor down the left wins Villa a corner. The ball doesn’t get as far as The Mixer; instead Wolves stream upfield through Stearman and O’Hara. Eventually the ball’s swung over towards Doyle, but it’s too high for the striker. That looked dangerous for a second, but no. Nothing’s coming off for either team at the moment. 14 min: A terrible moment as Herd, looking to get his head on a ball whipped into the near post from the Villa right, whacks his face on the woodwork. Ouch. He’s down for a couple of minutes getting treatment. 11 min: Villa win a free kick 30-plus yards out. N’Zogbia goes for goal, but only manages to clank the ball straight at the wall. That was absurdly ambitious. “If, say, a friend of mine was still drunk from last night,” writes Jon Comlay, one of Jon Comlay’s best pals, “would he still have to take a good look at his life? I don’t think he’s in the mood for introspection so early on a bank holiday weekend.” 8 min: Petrov picks up the ball in the middle of the Wolves half, turns and hits a low shot just wide left of goal from 25 yards. Not a great effort, not a terrible one either. And something is better than nothing from the home side, who have otherwise started very slowly. 6 min: Delph is booked for a late clack on the ankle of Jarvis. The free kick, out on the right, is swung in by Hunt and tipped over the bar by Given. The resulting corner comes to naught, but this is a really confident and expressive start by Wolves. If there was anything on McLeish’s pad, it was probably a game of hangman, or a picture of a cock and balls. 5 min: A couple of corners down the right for Wolves, Doyle and Hunt again causing all manner of trouble. 4 min: Wolves are beginning to settle, the more impressive of the two so far. Doyle is causing an awful lot of bother down the right, while Hunt is seeing a fair bit of the ball in the middle. And we’re off! Within seconds of kick off, McCarthy makes a triple substitution and changes his formation. Oh alright no he doesn’t. The two teams take turns in failing to keep hold of the ball. It’s a scrappy start. The atmosphere: As you’d expect for a West Midlands derby, it’s blistering. I do hope nobody’s stopped off at the pub on the way here. On the touchline, the managers Alex McLeish and Mick McCarthy share a laugh. I can’t be sure, but did McLeish deliberately flash McCarthy a quick glimpse of his tactics pad? Surely not. No, he can’t have. But what a gambit that would be, the steady drip, drip, drip of disinformation… Kick off: A take-a-good-look-at-where-your-life-is-heading-if-you’ve-managed-to-get-drunk 12.05pm. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) Wolverhampton Wanderers name an unchanged side for the third successive league game: Hennessey, Stearman, Berra, Johnson, Ward, Jarvis, Henry, O’Hara, Hunt, Fletcher, Doyle. Subs: De Vries, Elokobi, Kightly, Vokes, Hammill, Milijas, Foley. Luke Young, who held talks with QPR yesterday after the two clubs agreed a fee, is ruled out with a knee problem; Chris Herd is in his stead: Given, Herd, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, N’Zogbia, Petrov, Delph, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Ireland, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Makoun, Clark, Bannan. Anyway, this game, fourth against third, promises to be a cracker. Both teams have started the season pretty well, exceeding expectations – Villa fans, staring in disbelief at the appointment of Blues boss Alex McLeish, having had none – and both will be hoping for something from this match. Wolves have a 100% record to maintain, and having won here 1-0 last season, will fancy their chances of doing so. Especially as they always score at the Villa, with at least one goal in all but one of their last eight league visits. But Villa are becoming hard to beat here at Villa Park: that Wolves defeat, back in March, was their only loss in their last ten Premier League games here. Welcome to the first top-of-the-table showdown of the season. Well, if you insist on publishing the league tables so early… Premier League 2011-12 Aston Villa Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 27, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.