KOZAK, AFTER HE SCORED
Well, I thought that was a very decent game, where we looked a lot more disciplined and organised.
That said, I’m sure a more clinical attack would have done much better against us, but who cares?
We got that clean sheet that ended a shocking run of 26 games without conceding. A statistic that looks even worse when you consider we hadn’t kept a clean sheet in this calendar year.
The biggest talking point will no doubt be Benteke’s injury.
I thought it looked like an ankle problem, but it seems it’s more a groin strain, which figures, given the way the player slipped.
Whatever, it’ll most likely mean at least a couple of games out, something we all feared.
Will Benteke be missed?
Too right he will, in my opinion.
Moving on to more positive things though, I thought this was a good game in that it was a typical English game of graft and blood and guts. And a bit of an eye-opener for Kuzak and Tonev, who got a fair bit of “treatment”.
I’m not sure about Tonev; he needs to sharpen up, as the overall pace of the game made him look a bit slow. Early days though.
Lowton was totally dropped from the squad, which surprised me, as I thought he was one of Lambert’s favourite players (what’s gone on there, I wonder?), but Bacuna did very well against Redmond, who ended up getting subbed.
Hughton got dog’s abuse from the Norwich fans for that decision and I’m minded to agree, because he looked a bit of a threat, but hey, again, who cares? He looks a bit of a petulant little so and so and needs to wind his neck in. A real nose, by the looks of it, so fair play, I suppose.
On the other wing, Luna did a decent job against Snodgrass, who also caused problems.
Gabby looked our biggest threat and gave Norwich loads of trouble with his pace.
Weimann looked a bit sharper to me and was unlucky when he hit the post.
Benteke did what he always does, as did Delph. KEA did a decent job, although I’m sure I saw him totally bottle out of a 50-50, which was poor in my mind.
The man of the match though, was Brad Guzan.
A totally justified decision, because he was magnificent in the way he commanded the box.
What a contrast to the player who got battered in that semi against Blackburn.
A super save from a penalty that shouldn’t have been given (although I understand why it was when I put my neutral head on) and a great save late on that ultimately earned us the three points.
I’ve just heard he touched the ball more than any other Villa player.
I’m not surprised, although I didn’t get the impression he was massively tested today.
A decent overall performance, but I have to say I wasn’t very impressed with Norwich.
Their fans booed them off and I can see why.
Still, 3 points away, a change of style in that we played a 4-4-1-1 and finally a clean sheet.
Let’s hope it’s the first of many eh?
I don’t particularly care about the ins and outs.
We won and that’ll do for me.
I’m a happy bunny today.