Villa Park: Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester City

Monday, 24 September 2007

Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester City

Aerial shot of Villa Park (Bing Maps)

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 9/10

Ease of getting there : 8/10

Atmosphere : 10/10

Programme : 8/10

View of Action : 10/10

Quality of the game : 8/10

The "football" feeling : 8/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 8/10

Legroom : 9/10

Surrounding area : 6/10

Overall : 84/100

North Stand

The Holte End

The Trinity Road Stand

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Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City

With both teams struggling in the Premier League and being in the news this week, their attention turns to the FA Cup 5^th round as a welcome distraction. Aston Villa this week sacked their manager Paul Lambert following poor form which followed with the appointment of Tim Sherwood as their new manager. Leicester City’s manager Nigel Pearson was the victim of false media claims this week when Sky Sports announced that he had been dismissed by the club. The club however released a statement confirming his position at the club and that this news story was merely rumours.

Being a 12:30pm kick off meant it would be an early start. Fog had descended on the Midlands overnight and was still submerged as I set off at just before 10am. I headed towards the M42 travelling southbound until junction 9 going through Curdworth, Minworth and Erdington. I parked outside Witton Cemetry on a road called The Ridgeway (being one of the last roads before the residential permit zones towards the ground). Only a 25 minute walk down Witton Road and then Witton Lane before I reached Villa Park.

The atmosphere around Villa Park was already building up with burger vans sizzling away and plenty of stalls selling merchandise such as the frequently seen half and half scarves displaying ‘Aston Villa v Leicester City’ to commemorate this classic cup fixture...

As I walked around the ground, you can sense the history of this famous football club as you look up at the grand exterior of The Holte End. However, once you’ve walked under the impressive Trinity Road Stand and observed the statue of the famous William McGregor, the rear of the North Stand looks somewhat disappointing as it looks rather dated letting the rest of the ground down.

With a quick cup of tea outside the ground, it was time to go in. The concourse seemed very dated and also lacked in space to accommodate the Foxes faithful. The lack of space continued walking up the narrow stairs and even a lack of legroom.

Villa Park is a traditional English football ground, very much like Goodison Park and the now demolished Highbury. The North Stand is the oldest of the four stands, built in the 1970's. The Doug Ellis Stand was the next to be built in 1993 and is named after the life President of the club. The Holte End was built in 1994 and finally the most recent stand is the Trinity Road Stand which was built in 2000.

The 6,000 Leicester City supporters were housed in the upper tier of the North Stand and upper and lower tier of the Doug Ellis Stand generating noise from the start. City had adopted a 5-4-1 formation following their match against Arsenal midweek. New Villa manager Tim Sherwood was watching from the stands expecting a performance from his team. The first half was a very even encounter with Leicester having the better chances including a long range shot by Matty James well saved by Shay Given. Following a half time visit by the new Villa manager in the Home Dressing Room, the Villa team came out much improved in the second half. Leicester City in the second half continued their defence approach that worked well during the first half until 65^th minute. Nigel Pearson decided to change from a solid defence formation to a more attacking 4-4-2 taking off Wasilewski for Ulloa. This proved to be a naive tactical decision with Villa taking the lead in the 68^th minute. Leandro Bacuna's curled strike put Villa one-nil ahead. Things got worse for the Foxes when Scott Sinclair shot was fumbled into the net by Leicester veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Following the second goal, the away following started to turn on the manager demanding for him to sort the team out. Leicester City’s Kramaric got a late goal with a powerful header past Shay Given which was no more than a consolation.

A quick exit out the North Stand at full time, a walk down a police covered Witton Lane and then up Witton Road back to the car. The journey home consisted of the same route meant I was back in Leicestershire for 3:30pm.

A disappointed result and performance by the boys in blue but it was nice to revisit Villa Park. My last visit to Villa Park was back in 2007 which ironically was the season Leicester City were relegated. On today’s performance, Leicester City could face another relegation as for manager Nigel Pearson, sadly the future doesn’t look too rosy for him at the club and the pressure mounts.

Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester City

Our trip to the magnificent Villa Park was a happy one as underdogs City beat Premier League Aston Villa 1-0 in the League Cup. The only goal was scored by Matty Fryatt against the run of play in a game where the home side dominated for long periods.
Nevertheless, City held on resolutely in typical Gary Megson style getting one over former boss Martin O’Neill.
As League Cup games are all played in midweek it was a bit of a dash to Birmingham. Adrian picked me (Ross) up in Coalville and after a quick bite to eat in Tamworth; we parked up in the Witton area of Birmingham and walked down to the stadium.
Villa Park is a traditional English football ground, very much like Goodison Park and the now demolished Highbury.
The North Stand is the oldest of the four stands, built in the 1970's. The Doug Ellis Stand, where Adrian and I sat, was the next to be built in 1993 and is named after the life President of the club. The vocal Holte End was built in 1994 and finally the most recent stand is the Trinity Road Stand which was built in 2000.
Leicester City worked extremely hard and the large following who had made the short journey across the Midland’s voiced their approval at the end with a standing ovation.
A quick jog to the car, a hasty departure out of north Birmingham back up the M42 and I was back in North West Leicestershire in under an hour and in bed ready for school the next day!
From a City fan’s point of view the draw for the next round was now of major interest, especially as we were drawn out to play Chelsea away... Another trip on the cards!