Despite the miserable conditions in West London, Villa were finally involved in a good advert for Championship football.
The game began in a feisty fashion with tackles flying in and once QPR scored the opener from a corner, the game went on to be an end-to-end open encounter. The flow of which at times resembled a basketball game.
Villa registered 26 shots. Is this the new dawn of Bruce playing attacking football?
More of the same please.
The energy levels were right up there too. Onomah and Davis looked good creating chances from nothing, Adomah was the match-winner, while Snodgrass, Hourihane, Samba and Hutton provided the bite and determination.
There was much to like about the performance in what was one of Villa’s best wins of the season, considering QPR’s home record was the 4th best in the division and they’d seen off both of the top two.
Back it up with a win against Sunderland on Tuesday, and the fans that began to whinge when we go one-nil down, should start to wise up and get behind the promotion effort.
Aston Villa Player Ratings vs QPR
Sam Johnstone – 6
Got swamped from the corner that led to the first goal (would have to see it again to see if he could have done better in claiming it), but overall solid and a calm presence in a frantic game.
Alan Hutton – 7
With Ahmed Elmohamady not fresh after belatedly coming back from international duty with Egypt, Hutton seemed amped for his chance at right-back, after several games on the opposition flank. No other Villa player touched the ball more, as he seemed keen to get forward as much as possible.
He symbolised Villa’s aggressive intent in the game.
Chris Samba – 7
James Chester – 6
Conditions didn’t help Chester with his footing at times, but he made a goal saving tackle later on in the first half. Not his best game, but it was fast and frantic out there in crappy conditions.
Neil Taylor – 6
It was a sound enough performance on his first game back for a few weeks, but a lot of the play to be fair was on the other flank. Taylor did get forward on occasion and even got a rare shot off.
Glen Whelan – 6
Despite at times seeming to be more forward then usual, his chief contribution was putting his foot in and defensive clearances. His passing was a bit wayward at times though and with the game very open, struggled to get any grip of composure on it.
Robert Snodgrass – 7
Heart on the sleeve stuff from the Scotsman who really got stuck in at times. Tackles, key passes & shots in abundance. While the end product for the highlights reel might not be there yet, he helps Villa ‘man up’ in the tougher tussles like today.
Conor Hourihane – 7
Had Villa’s first sight on goal, sending a shot just wide, although he spent a lot of the game fairly deep and anchoring the midfield to allow Onomah more creative freedom. The Irishman is certainly becoming more of an all-round midfield force for Villa.
Josh Onomah – 7.5
Was at the heart of most chances in the first half, including having a snap shot just fizzle wide and then hitting the bar. Onomah brings a lot more dimension to the team and as long as Davis stays fit, with the Spurs loanee sparking things up, we won’t miss Kodjia (or Hogan) too much.
Keinan Davis – 7.5
Got Villa going in the first half. Had a chance blocked from six-yards after good work by Snodgrass, quickly followed by forcing a close range save from the keeper. Unlucky not to put Villa ahead at the start of the second half with a climbing head.
He’s been massive for Villa in giving them an identity as a team. Another battler who can create opportunities from a lost cause.
If he stays fit, I’d be surprised not to see him around the top of the end of season MOMS Aston Villa Player Power Rankings
Albert Adomah – 8 MOTM
Despite wasting Villa’s first decent chance on the half hour mark, after being put through from the left by good link-up work between Davis and Onomah, Adomah was the match-winner.
Cooly putting away the penalty before half-time and then provided a smart finish to give Villa the lead.
It was yet another good showing by Adomah from the left flank, who was Villa’s top goal threat with seven shots (four on target) during the game.
Do you remember Adama Traore? No, me neither!
Off the Bench
Jedinak (81) – 6
The Socceroos captain fantastic rested from jet-lag on the bench. You’d expect him to come in on Tuesday night to freshen things up for Bruce. He didn’t have much to do, but many a decent clearance or two.
de Laet (86) – N/A
With only a couple of touches, hard to say anything.
Bjarnason (90) – N/A
Came on for the five minutes of injury time, but didn’t get to touch the ball.
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yes well done villa, replace wheelan with doyle hayes and you have a team to give wolves a game ?
Considering our injury situation a very good performance away from home. We need to keep this going now and really stick it to Sunderland on Tuesday night. Let’s hope Davis can start converting his chances then he’s the real deal, well done Villa