Aston Villa v. QPR (22 Sept: Carling Cup - Round 2) [R]

[Atouk]

Aston Villa -- 7th, Premiership -- first game in Carling Cup
v.
QPR -- 8th, Championship -- defeated Swansea City, 3-0, at Loftus Road in Carling Cup Round 1
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Villa Park
22 September 2004 19:45
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Rangers News:

Sh!ttu saw his first league action on Saturday and came through it well. Ainsworth, Thorpe, and Culkin are out. Bean may not travel to aid in his recovery from a minor thigh injury.

The QPR match preview is online. (http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PreMatchAnalysisDetail/0,,10373~567144,00.html)

The Opponent:

Villa advanced to the semifinal in this tournament last season and has started well in the Premiership this year.

Their leading scorer last season, Juan Pablo Angel, is slated to return to their lineup against the R's. He started one match before returning to the bench last week and looks to get his second start of the year tomorrow.

Their first six Premiership matches of the season (most recent first):
A Norwich D, 0-0
H Chelsea D, 0-0
H Newcastle W, 4-2
A Charlton L, 0-3
A West Brom D, 1-1
H Southampton W, 2-0

The Series:

Rangers lead the all-time series, 21-9-16. Villa leads in League Cup action, 3-2-1. The teams haven't met since 95/96, QPR's last season in the Premiership, when Villa won a League Cup match and each side won its home Premier League match.

The Referee:

Graham Salisbury gets the assignment. He's issued 20 yellows and 0 reds in 7 matches this season (4 League One, 2 League Two, 1 League Cup). 9 of his 32 games were at Championship level last year, the remainder below and in cups. His only career QPR match was our 1-4 away lost to Peterborough in the old Division Two in 01/02.

[Atouk]

Starting for the R's:

Day; Bignot, Shittu, Gnohere, Edghill; Rowlands, Branco, Johnson, McLeod; Gallen, Cureton.

Bench:

Furlong, Santos, Cook, Bircham, Cole.

It's often the higher-division team sending out its reserves, but Olly is clearly much more concerned about the Championship as he rests Furlong, Padula, Cook, Santos, Bircham, etc. With Furlong (soon to turn 36) and Santos (34) it's no surprise to see them sitting out -- plus Santos sitting allows both fit-again centerbacks to get a game.

It'll be interesting to see if this experimental side can hang with Villa.

[Atouk]

About 20 minutes in. So far, so good. The R's have 3 shots (2 on goal) while Villa has 3 shots (0 on goal).

[Atouk]

Aston Villa 1-0 QPR
29 minutes
Darius Vassell with the goal

Quick counter, pass-pass-pass-pass-goal. Nice, quick, crisp play by Villa beats the R's.

[Atouk]

Villa 2-0 QPR
38 minutes
Solano to Angel

Ouch.

[Atouk]

Bignot went in the book with a yellow in the 38th on the foul that resulted in the free kick that led to the goal.

Yes, their second goal was yet another set piece goal against the R's. Solano's free quick was quite nice, according to the commentators, leaving Angel little to do to head home.

[Atouk]

Villa 2-0 QPR
HALF TIME

[Atouk]

Richard Johnson out; Paul Furlong on. Looks like Gallen is dropping back into midfield.

We've kicked off.

[Atouk]

GOOOOAAAAAALLLL!

McLeod takes advantage of a terrible back pass and scores!

Villa 2-1 QPR

[Atouk]

In the 71st minute, Furlong had a shot saved that was a great chance.

Gnohere picked up an injury. Santos on for Gnohere.

Also, Cook comes on for Rowlands.

In Championship action, Millwall is leading Derby, 2-1.

[Atouk]

Big Dan gets called for a foul for an ill-timed challenge.

On the resulting free kick... goal Villa.

Villa 3-1 QPR
77th minute
Solano beats Day with the free kick

[Atouk]

Villa 3-1 QPR
FULL TIME

Crowd of 26,975

From the sound of things, there's nothing to hang our heads about. Villa had a slight edge in possession and shots/shots on target, but very slight. They had 9 shots on target to our 8. Each team earned 6 corners. Overall, we hung in well and created our share of chances -- they just showed a bit of extra quality on a couple of their goals.

Gnohere's injury is one to watch -- sounds like he had a hamstring problem. Otherwise, we got a bit of match fitness for Shittu, a bit of a rest for Furlong, a chance to look at Branco, and our performance was good enough that it shouldn't impact the confidence the team has built through its recent good performances.

[HiJazzey]

Watched the highlights of the game yesterday. The team gave a good account of themselves. Furs in particular had some good chances to embarrass Villa, but in the end Villa made it safe with an unstoppable free kick.

[Northside Rovers]

That's the way it goes, I guess.

With our run of form in the league, no sense getting reedy or stars in our eyes. Just yet anyhow.