It’s pretty difficult to write the same things week after week after week after week but let’s have a try, shall we?
It was a defeat again for Bolton last night, at least being on a Friday evening we can get it out of the way and try to enjoy the rest of the weekend. The disappointing part of it was Villa could have been there for the taking. They had lost back-to-back games, and their goalkeeper Orjan Nyland didn’t seem particularly convincing.
We’re not very convincing either though, there hasn’t been a goalless draw between the two sides since the 2000 FA Cup semi-final and that streak continued after just three and a bit minutes when we switched off, Tammy Abraham linked up well and Jack Grealish rounded Ben Alnwick to put us behind within 15 minutes for the third game in a row.
From there, we did have chances, with Jack Hobbs having an effort cleared off the line, and we could argue it was a better performance than at least what we have been saying. But there was always a sinking feeling they would get another, and the excellent James Chester’s disallowed goal from a free-kick proved to be a warning, as he got another header in, and although arguably offside too, it would stand that time.
From there, belief did go. With roughly an equal number of chances before that, Villa went on to have the majority after that. While there was effort from Bolton, the belief had gone and the quality was never there.
At least Phil Parkinson went to a back four which is probably the better option. What wasn’t a good call for me was the selection of Clayton Donaldson as the lone striker, picking the one who hasn’t scored yet. But nobody is scoring goals, and there will be no improvement unless that changes. Meanwhile, Adam Le Fondre scored a brace on the other side of the world 11 hours earlier.