Match Review: Villa’s Set-Piece magic & Defensive Composure – Aston Villa 1 – 0 Fulham
Well, this game was a difficult watch… a sluggish performance that brought home the points for Aston Villa. We look at the 3 key aspects from this game and how Villa are improving.
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We’re turning into a team with grit…
Podcast Transcript
Welcome back to another episode of “The Villa Society” podcast, where we analyse the latest fixtures featuring Aston Villa and discuss the key moments that influenced the game.
I’m your host, Paul James, and today we’ll be talking about the 1-0 home victory we ground out over Fulham at Villa Park.
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In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at the game between Aston Villa and Fulham, where Villa claimed a crucial 1-0 win at Villa Park.
From 17th to 5th!
It’s really an incredible run… and like I mentioned in the last podcast. I think we just need to enjoy this form of winning and winning ugly sometimes. It’s been a great season whatever happens now… and such positive signs going into next season. Especially with a manager having the pre-season and summer window to get some players in.
A couple of episodes ago, I mentioned that Emery is a smart guy.
He’s sat there and assessed this Villa squad and knew it was vastly underperforming. I think he knew by looking at the squad that he could turn things around. I’m not saying he hasn’t gone above and beyond what we all thought for this many games into his job, but just that he was shrewd in identifying that the Villa squad has some quality that hasn’t been coached that well.
Unai Emery is the manager we have needed for a long time, a proper world class manager.
I think it was crucial to pick up a win after that Brentford game to keep us in touch for Europe. Tyrone Mings’ goal was enough to secure an eighth victory in 10 Premier League matches.
So, let’s dive right into the game analysis.
Stats Blast:
Aston Villa climbed to fifth place in the Premier League, just one point above Tottenham.
Tyrone Mings scored the match-winning goal in the 21st minute, assisted by John McGinn’s corner.
Fulham had only one significant chance in the game, with Andreas Pereira’s acrobatic strike in the opening minute.
Aston Villa has now scored in all 20 of their Premier League games under Unai Emery.
Villa is currently on a 10-match unbeaten run.
Now that we’ve covered the stats blast, let’s have a look at the game:
The team seemed a bit tired from their game against Brentford at the weekend, which seemed to affect their overall energy on the pitch.
It was in the 21st minute, Tyrone Mings managed to score the match-winning goal, heading home from a John McGinn corner.
I think it’s a sign that maybe our set-piece coach is having an influence on games.
The game overall was a pretty hard watch, Fulham threatened only once when Andreas Pereira’s acrobatic strike in the opening minute went wide of the right post.
Villa showcased some some character in place during this game, with several key moments such as Watkins’ attempt in the 73rd minute that went over the top,
the 82nd minute when Mings’ disallowed goal due to Reed’s offside position.
It’s the result and the three points that truly count.
This 1-0 win against Fulham takes us a step closer to the European dream.
I just hope the lads can recharge for our upcoming game against Manchester United on Sunday and come back stronger, continuing to showcase their fighting spirit again. Maybe we were holding something back with that game in mind… Fulham did seem to be on holiday a bit.
Let’s break down three key aspects of this crucial match as well as some bits that have been evident under Emery.
1. Mings’ Decisive Header and Villa’s Set-Piece magic
It was Tyrone Mings’ 21st-minute header from a corner, whipped into the near post by John McGinn that made the difference.
The goal not only brought three points but also moved Villa up to the dizzy heights of fifth place in the Premier League.
We’re winning ugly and that’s ok, it wasn’t the greatest game but we got the job done… got the three points and now we move on to Man United. We can’t play superb football every game… I think after the Newcastle game we were all maybe expecting Villa to be playing the same decisive cut edge football every week… but the opposition is different every week and so is our game plan with Emery. Some games will be cagey, some might be dull but there will be games where we blow the opposition away too… Fingers crossed for the game on Sunday.
Under Unai Emery, Villa has made set-piece training a priority, with the head coach getting heavily involved to ensure that the team is well-equipped to take advantage of opportunities in games. Set-piece coach Austin MacPhee has become integral to the team’s success, with Emery giving him the freedom to instruct from the technical area on matchdays when Villa attack or defend set pieces.
This has led to greater buy-in from the players, with key figures like Douglas Luiz and John McGinn spending extra time working on their deliveries.
As a result of this focus on set-piece training, Villa have become one of the most dangerous teams in the Premier League from dead-ball situations.
Of the 46 league goals they have scored this season, more than a quarter (26%) have come from set pieces. They have scored in all 22 games under Emery and have set a record of scoring in 20 consecutive Premier League games under a new manager.
Villa’s defensive solidity has also been impressive, having kept five clean sheets in a row at home and only conceded twice from open play in their last ten games (eight wins, two draws).
This defensive strength has been particularly evident in their ability to defend set pieces, with Emery recognizing the importance of reducing the number of corners conceded and improving organisation in the penalty area.
Last night’s win over Fulham showcased Villa’s advantage with set pieces, with Tyrone Mings scoring the winning goal from a first-half corner. This was a move straight off the training ground, with McGinn delivering a precise ball to the near post for Mings to attack and aim for first contact.
The goal really highlighted the effectiveness of Villa’s set-piece training and reinforced the importance of this aspect of their game as they continue to push for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Quote: Unai Emery, after the match, said, “I have to try to be ambitious, to be realistic, and as well, play under pressure – because I like playing under pressure.”
2. The Emery Effect: From Relegation Zone to European Dream
When Emery took over, we were languishing in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.
He orchestrated this super impressive 10-match unbeaten run, that includes eight victories.
With his focus on playing under pressure, Emery has pushed Villa to compete against top-tier opposition and target European qualification.
Can you believe that 8 players that played tonight started in that 3-0 loss to Fulham under Gerrard. We’re now unbeaten in 10 games.
It was a weird game, Fulham sat back and really didn’t offer much at all. Villa didn’t seem to ever get out of first gear… were we conserving energy for the game on Sunday against Man United or were we just tired? I was a little surprised that there weren’t one or two changes to the side… Ashley Young could have done with a rest.
Quote: Emery continued, “We are now a candidate, we are fifth, but Tottenham is playing (on Thursday), Liverpool is one match less than us, Brighton three matches less than us.”
3. Villa’s Dominance and Defence
Villa had 14 shots in this game, 8 inside the box and 6 outside. I can’t remember most of them because the game wasn’t that entertaining
We managed to defend against limited Fulham pretty easily, maybe they were on holiday already… they didn’t have too much to play for.
They had just one shot! Which went off target. I think that really tells you everything about Fulham’s performance. Strange game… even at times during the game… Mings or Konsa would get the ball and stop… wait a couple of minutes until a Fulham player came near them. Obviously inviting the press, but Fulham didn’t seem to want to press.
Not a great spectacle but you can see how Emery would be happy that the game wasn’t an end to end full on game after playing a difficult match against Brentford at the weekend.
Hopefully, our players will be well rested for the game on Sunday… especially as we don’t really have the squad to rotate a lot.
We’ve got some crucial matches against Spurs, Liverpool, and Brighton coming uo.
Highlight: In the 82nd minute, Villa’s defence held strong as Harrison Reed’s delivery went in off Mings, but the flag was up for offside, maintaining their clean sheet.
Quote: Fulham boss Marco Silva, reflecting on the game, said, “First half was not good enough from ourselves, we were too shy, not aggressive enough. We conceded a completely sloppy goal. The first half was not at our level, the standards.”
Fulham pressed a bit in the second half but really didn’t concern us much at all.. You can see that with their awful shots stat.
In conclusion Villa’s 1-0 victory over Fulham has put us in a promising position to fight for European football next season.
With the job Emery has done, our improvement in set pieces and being composed and defending well…we have every reason to be optimistic about the future.
We’ve got crucial upcoming matches against Tottenham, Liverpool, and Brighton, it will be exciting to see how the business end of the season pans out..
Quote: Unai Emery, when speaking about their European ambitions, said, “I think the dreams, they are here – OK, it is good I think for everybody, and we can share with our supporters. But I was speaking with the team – I like to play key matches. Like today. We are close to getting (a top-10 finish), and the next step is to try to be a candidate in a European position.”
That’s all for today’s episode of The Villa Society! We hope you enjoyed this analysis of Aston Villa’s vs Manchester United and their push for European football.
Don’t forget to give us a follow and a cheeky review on your podcasting platform.We’ll be back after the Man United game with …hopefully a more entertaining game!
