Aston Villa’s hopes of getting some momentum going in an attempt to get their top six charge off and running were thwarted on Friday as they would draw 1-1 at Bristol City. Here are three thoughts from the match:
If at first you don’t succeed, try four times
Aston Villa gave away a free kick around 60 minutes when John Terry committed a foul. No big deal? Right. It happens all of the time.
Well, except Aston Villa’s defence isn’t very good all of the time, or even some of the time lately. Villa had four chances to clear, and they did not take any of them.
Eventually Jamie Paterson slammed the ball into the back of the net, and once again Villa were up against it due to their defensive ineptitude.
Onomah shines again
Tottenham’s on-loan man Joshua Onomah has shone in the last week, and he followed up his goal from the EFL Cup goal from midweek with yet another one. It might not have been all to his doing, as it took a huge deflection upon going in.
However, he had a go and took responsibility in his hands, and he came up trumps for it. In what was an even encounter with a back and forth feel to it, they needed to equalize quickly. They did just that through their great loanee.
Patience still needed
Even with this draw, Villa will at worst be just five points back of the Championship’s sixth place side at the end of the weekend. It will not be easy to get up to speed with the other sides, but there still is plenty of time.
Three- or even two- wins straight will change things dramatically for any side at this juncture. They can’t afford to continue to flounder, and need to at least be in the top ten in a couple of months to have a real shot, but there is still time.
It’s not panic time yet. If there is panic and the manager is sacked, or tactics are changed way too quickly, they will be in even more trouble.
