Bent rescues point for Aston Villa

Updated October 01, 2012 06:14:32

Darren Bent came off the bench to rescue a point for Aston Villa in their 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion on Monday (AEST).

Bent, Villa's club record signing, was among the substitutes as Paul Lambert started with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke up front.

The England striker, with national manager and ex-Baggies coach Roy Hodgson watching from the stands at Villa Park, had only been on the pitch 11 minutes when he cancelled out Shane Long's opening goal.

"Obviously it would have been nice to play from the start, but I managed to score the goal to get a point," Bent told Sky Sports.

"It's obviously been a difficult couple of weeks, losing the captaincy first off, then finding out I wasn't playing today. But we battled all the way through and we got the point.

"The start of the season's been up and down. Obviously we had a good result against Swansea, but then we got beaten 4-1 by Southampton before getting a great result against Manchester City (in the League Cup).

"Today we showed signs that we are heading in the right direction and we've all got faith in the manager."

The under-pressure Lambert added: "Darren's a big part of (this squad) -- everybody knows he's a goalscorer.

"I decided on the lads up front but I don't value anybody higher than anybody else. To do well we need everybody."

Sunday's result left Villa two points clear of the bottom three.

Long missed a chance to give West Brom -- who have lost just once in their first six league games this term -- an early lead when he headed wide from close range.

But Villa eased their way into the match and it needed a finger-tip save from Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster to divert Brett Holman's long-range shot over the crossbar.

Foster then made another good save when he turned away a Holman shot that deflected off Billy Jones.

However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when Long turned in James Morrison's low cross for his fourth goal of the season.

Bent came on mid-way through the second half, in place of Benteke, and 10 minutes from time the striker turned in a loose ball after Ciaran Clark's volley from a Barry Bannan corner was blocked.

Albion almost won the match late on when substitute Roman Lukaku twice went close to regaining the lead for the Baggies.

The striker, on loan from Premier League leaders Chelsea, first saw a shot deflect off Clark onto a post and then saw another effort come off the legs of Villa keeper Brad Guzan.

AFP

Tags: sport, soccer, english-premier, united-kingdom

First posted October 01, 2012 06:14:32

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Aston Villa sack McLeish

Updated May 15, 2012 06:26:32

Alex McLeish was sacked as manager of Aston Villa on Monday, fewer than 24 hours after the end of his first season in charge.

In a statement, the Premier League club said McLeish's contract had been "terminated with immediate effect".

The Scot was an unpopular appointment with many Villa fans after he oversaw city rivals Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League last term.

And he only narrowly avoided a similar fate with Villa this season, the club finishing just two points above the bottom three to stay in English football's top flight.

"The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans," the Villa statement added.

"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."

Villa ended the campaign with a run of nine winless matches and for the club's US-based owner Randy Lerner, never mind fans capable of recalling the Midlands side's 1982 European Cup triumph, that was not good enough.

Its home form was especially dire, with just four wins at Villa Park representing a record low return in front of its owns fans in a single season.

Lerner, in a message on the club's website, said: "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

"Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

"The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club's potential and embraces our collective expectations."

Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner added: "We'd like to thank Alex for his hard work and efforts throughout this tough season.

"We are mindful of the club's need to prepare thoroughly for the new campaign and for the new manager to be able to begin working with the board so that he is quickly immersed in these preparations and also in the long-term objectives of the club.

"Our focus now will be driven by these imperatives and we will update when appropriate."

McLeish had to cope with reducing what he said was an "astronomical" wage bill and he was also deprived of several key players through injury or illness such as record signing Darren Bent and club captain Stiliyan Petrov.

Even so, it was still something of a surprise that Villa only made sure of their Premier League status on Sunday's final day of the season.

AFP

Tags: sport, soccer, english-premier, england, united-kingdom

First posted May 15, 2012 06:26:32

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