Wow, finally a genuine reason to be cheerful after Villa didn’t surrender a two-goal lead this time. We’ll settle for the three points, but here’s five points more…
1. Nevermind a ‘must win game’, this was officially ‘Do or Die’ time…and Villa did do.
2. The defence stopped West Ham scoring. Unless Villa were going to score a second own goal, the three points were Villa’s. A much improved performance by the back line. The Hammers had a ton of corners, but nothing to show for them. Nice to see Darren Bent clearing off the line too.
3. Le Zog factor. He once rescued Wigan from relegation pretty much single-handedly. Can he do it for Villa? N’Zogbia has definitely sparked to life in recent weeks for Villa. He needs to show the qualities that make him a potential match winner more consistently though.
4. Now four or five wins needed for safety (and the odd draw) and out of the relegation zone for now.
5. Sam Allardyce’s post-match interview certainly put smiles on Villa fan’s faces. “We completely dominated the second half and we’ve ended up losing 2-1. Even at the end their goalkeeper was the hero,” said Sam, on top of other pearls of delusion. What game was he watching?
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Reason 7 – First win on a Sunday for 13 games!
Reason 6 – One of our youngsters grew a pair!! Baker put his head in where it counts…hope there’s more of that to come.