I had a feeling Villa would beat Crystal Palace. In fact I told folk on the MOMS Facebook page to bet on it at 11/4. It was obvious when you factor in the Villa logic to the equation. With the ‘Lambert Out’ sentiment growing rapidly after a nine-game winless streak, the only thing that would burst that bubble was a Villa win. Whatever the odds, Lambert always has the knack of pulling wins out of the bag when he needs to keep himself in a job and supporter apathy simmering away.
I’d love it if Lambo would win games regularly and give us performances to get us off our seats, but until then, here’s five reasons to be cheerful as Villa fans. UTV
1. A Win
About bloody time. It’s almost three months since Villa won a game of football. Funnily enough I was visiting Nottingham the day Villa won at Anfield…guess where I was Tuesday night? Yep, Nottingham for the night. First couple of times I’ve been there since Villa’s pre-season game against Forest a couple of seasons ago. FFS, it looks like I’m going to have to move there…
It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. At least the winning goal was a beauty. i just hope it doesn’t simply mean Lambert hanging around Villa Park like a bad smell. Come on Lambert, beat Leicester at the weekend…beat Manchester United in a few weeks time. Don’t just win when you need to hang on your job. Give us some results to get our pride back!
2. Rock Solid Travellers
Villa have now kept more clean sheets away from home than any other Premier League side this season (4). This is useful, because we’re still s**t at home.
3. Benteke’s Birthday Treat
There’s one way of making sure you get showered with gifts on your birthday and that’s to score a sublime winning goal the day before it. Benteke was certainly charging up into full beast mode during the Spurs game before his sending off disconnected him, so it was good to see him powered up again at Selhurst Park. As I’ve always said about Benteke, he gives you a chance in any game. A hat-trick against United please in a few weeks time (yes, I really want to beat United!)
4. Sanchez Progress
Supporters can be harsh. Young players and overseas players typically are given next to no time to get up to speed, before they’re slated from the stands and on social media. Sanchez despite being thrown in the deep end a couple of times earlier in the season, had started to attract flack quickly for being off the pace and wayward with his passing.
Progress was certainly made last night with his covering and protecting of the back four, which certainly contributed to the clean sheet. He should get up to speed over the Christmas fixture list, so we’ll hopefully see a much more confident player in the new year.
5. Stats Spin
One school of thought says one win in 10 games and that is not good enough, but you can also say, unbeaten in 30 days, four games unbeaten, 12th in the league and we’d be in the European places based on first-half form alone. Don’t blame Lambert, blame the person who came up with the idea of having two halves of 45 minutes instead of one! UTV
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