League cup final

[Maguire]

I didn't think it was a red tbh and i'm pretty sure that if a Reading player had been dismissed for similar then 99% of the people on here would have been outraged.

I certainly don't think it was comparable to Sonko's trip on Benjani when the latter was clean through, wrong side of the defender, facing goal, one on one, ball at his feet. Agbonlahor was not in the same situation.

[Alan Partridge]

I didn't think it was a red tbh and i'm pretty sure that if a Reading player had been dismissed for similar then 99% of the people on here would have been outraged.

I certainly don't think it was comparable to Sonko's trip on Benjani when the latter was clean through, wrong side of the defender, facing goal, one on one, ball at his feet. Agbonlahor was not in the same situation.

Mainly due to Vidic holding his shirt, from 5 yards otside the box.

The only thing that saved him in my opinion was the time it happened. 3minutes in, the referee went on the side of caution. Which was wrong but it happens.

[southbank1871]

Even if he decided not to send him off because he felt it wasn't a clear goal scoring opportunity (which I personally think it was), the decision not to book him is completely inexplicable. Had he booked him then he would have gone in the second half. Villa have every right to be outraged IMO.

I was really hoping Villa would win, preferably AET, as they'd have undoubtedly gone out on the piss for a few days and would have probably taken their foot off the gas for the rest of the season, just like Spurs did a few seasons ago.

[Maguire]

I didn't think it was a red tbh and i'm pretty sure that if a Reading player had been dismissed for similar then 99% of the people on here would have been outraged.

I certainly don't think it was comparable to Sonko's trip on Benjani when the latter was clean through, wrong side of the defender, facing goal, one on one, ball at his feet. Agbonlahor was not in the same situation.

Mainly due to Vidic holding his shirt, from 5 yards otside the box.

The only thing that saved him in my opinion was the time it happened. 3minutes in, the referee went on the side of caution. Which was wrong but it happens.

He'd managed to make GA turn back once already before he went to go past him again. From what I remember anyway. Yeah, time was on Vidic's side but it would've been a properly harsh red.

[Maguire]

Had he booked him then he would have gone in the second half. Villa have every right to be outraged IMO

Flawed logic. If he'd been booked then the entire game would've panned out completely differently and there's no guarantee he would've committed a second cautionable offence.

[SpaceCruiser]

Had he booked him then he would have gone in the second half. Villa have every right to be outraged IMO

Flawed logic. If he'd been booked then the entire game would've panned out completely differently and there's no guarantee he would've committed a second cautionable offence.

Interesting point.

I thought there was something dodgy about those decisions. In the first 10 minutes or so, two Aston Villa players got booked for bad tackles. In the same period, 4 Manchester United made very bad tackles too (including Vidic's in the box on GA) and none of those players got booked. I wonder if Martin O'Neill was querying the referee's decision on not to book Rafael when the TV was zoomed in on the conversation between him and the referee.

[papereyes]

As a goal scoring threat though, Heskey is not up to much.

but he's not playing as a goalscoring threat - his job is to bring the players that might actually get a goal into the game.

Or at least force a corner from which Villa might score.

Red, yellow, whatever - United learnt from that lesson and spent the rest of the game giving Agbonlahor about a foot-worth of breathing space.

[SpaceCruiser]

As a goal scoring threat though, Heskey is not up to much.

but he's not playing as a goalscoring threat - his job is to bring the players that might actually get a goal into the game.

He actually didn't do a lot, apart from head the ball against the crossbar late in the second half. I wondered why they played him instead of Carew.

Having said that, Manchester United dominated the game for long periods by keeping hold of the ball and denying them much possession. Villa were forced to punt the ball up the field several times.

It wasn't good viewing.

[papereyes]

As a goal scoring threat though, Heskey is not up to much.

but he's not playing as a goalscoring threat - his job is to bring the players that might actually get a goal into the game.

He actually didn't do a lot, apart from head the ball against the crossbar late in the second half. I wondered why they played him instead of Carew.

CHRIST
His main job is to feed Agbonalahor with room to run, get the ball back to Milner or Petrov or to get the ball wide to Young/Downing.

He did that part.

What Villa need is a far better version of him who has pace and a goalscoring touch. I believe Chelsea call him Drogba.

[TBM]

I wondered why they played him instead of Carew.

Cos Carew and Agbonalahor find it hard playing together as Carew, despite being a big man, is not the right player for Agbonalahor to play off of. Carew is better and being a lone striker rather than having someone playing alongside him.

[papereyes]

Villa are best as a 4-3-3 with Agbonalohor through the centre, and then 2 of Milner, Young and Downing supporting.

They've switched to a 4-4-2 recently - to get Milner in CM - but they seem far more fluid and fast on the break with a 4-5-1/4-3-3.