In one of the best attacking performances Aston Villa have put in during their time in the Championship, Steve Bruce’s men came out winners in what was an end-to-end contest with chances a plenty.
QPR had only been beaten once this season at Loftus Road and had dispatched Wolves and Sheffield United along the way. With that in mind, you’d half expect Bruce to settle for a draw going into the game and that might have been on his mind once QPR took the lead.
Adomah’s equaliser from the spot before the half-time whistle, came after a series of chances and set up the second half nicely.
Guilty of being just a 45 minute team in the past, Villa continued in the same manner as they had finished the first half, playing with purpose and tempo.
It could/should have been more than 2-1, but hopefully the team saved their goals for Tuesday night’s encounter with Sunderland instead.
Until then, here’s five reasons to be cheerful as Villans…
The 2-1 win at QPR was a much improved performance by Villa. 26 shots, 20 created from open play. ???? UTV #AVFC pic.twitter.com/qA1To7zt2y
— #AVFC Podcast (@AstonVillaPod) November 18, 2017
1.Attack!
26 shots with 20 of them coming from open play. Villa were a refreshing spectacle to behold. Fast on the counter and willing to get the ball forward with purpose. This was better Villa, much better.
Even when Villa went 1-0 down, their attitude and the way they were playing suggested there would be a response.
The game turned out to be a lot more open than expected and when both teams were trading blows like boxers, Villa with their big hitters, were always going to have a chance of winning, if they continued to swing.
Bruce’s attitude has been safety first, but hopefully he’ll learn from this trip to Loftus Road, that being more positive can reap greater rewards.
2. Away Levels
Villa have already equalled the amount of away wins they registered last season – four. Which when you consider it’s only November, makes you wonder WTF we were playing at last season!
3. Rrrrrrrroar
One feature of Villa’s play that stood out against QPR was their aggression and energy. In previous Championship encounters, despite having better players on paper, Villa have been out fought in many areas of the pitch.
Robert Snodgrass and Keinan Davis certainly typify the new Villa hustle and bustle on the pitch, while Hutton, Hourihane, Taylor and Whelan, also gave Villa extra bite.
Add to that Onomah’s energy and positivity with the ball, and it certainly means that Villa can match the intensity and effort of most teams in the division, if they put their mind to it.
4. Top Scorer
With his brace against QPR bringing his tally to seven goals for the season, Albert Adomah has netted 29% of Villa goals this season. While Keinan Davis is doing a fine job of being a focal point of Villa’s attack and linking the team together, Adomah is doing a good job of covering Kodjia’s expected tally.
The most impressive thing is the majority of his goals (five) have come in away fixtures.
With Kodjia out for the foreseeable future, Adomah will now seek to get into double figures for the season.
Missing Kodjia isn’t necessarily a thing to get depressed about, with the Villa team looking a lot more balanced unit without him and more inclusive in terms of who scores the goals.
Adomah has certainly been an unexpected revelation this season and one of the reasons we’re in the promotion picture.
5. Contracted
With all the bad Villa injury news wafting around, Keinan Davis finally settling on the terms of a new contract was a big plus. Obviously, he was entitled to better terms considering he had made the jump to be a first team player and was now pivotal to Villa’s chances of promotion.
Again, he led the line very well against QPR and it’s going to be interesting to see how he performs over the winter period. Hopefully the goals will come.
If he carries on the performance level and consistency he’s already achieved, Villa should be rooted amongst the promotion contenders come the turn of the year.
UTV
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Great win, and we should’ve scored a lot more. I was 25m away for the penalty and it looked very harsh, especially in injury time, but aside from the first 20 mins we were clearly the better side.
QPR were more tenacious then us in the 1st half, and won the 50:50 challenges, and I can’t tell where samba is supposed to be sometimes, but when we have 5 midfielders we have some classy options and look good. It was like a few months ago when we put the opposition under pressure- the gap in quality was clear.
Well played.
Excellent result today, and good performance from Davis I just hope he can start converting his chances. Team looking more balanced and good attacking intent, let’s show the same against Sunderland Tuesday night and we should be set for 3 more points.