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A Blog For Aston Villa Fans

Scott Heavey

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Aston Villa vs. Norwich City: Live Coverage

With just one win and five points from eight games, Paul Lambert's Aston Villa side haven't exactly set the world on fire to start. the season There's still plenty of time left for things to turn around, but if Villa wants to avoid yet another relegation scare, beating teams like Norwich City at home is an absolute must.

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6 Total Updates since October 27, 2012
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Aston Villa vs. Norwich: Full time, 1-1 as Norwich get a point against 10 man Villa

Aston Villa went down a man in the 55th minute, but Norwich could only manage an equalizer in this match between two dreadful sides.

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VIDEO: Michael Turner scores for Norwich, match tied 1-1

Joe Bennett received his second yellow card in the 52nd minute, and Aston Villa just haven't looked the same since. It looked as if perhaps the defense would put in a glorious effort, but it was all undone when Norwich took a short and quick 79th minute corner. Wes Hoolahan took the pass from the corner and rifled it into the box, where Michael Turner put his head on it and sent it past Brad Guzan.

It seems an unfair goal for Guzan to allow, as he has been brilliant on the day. Thanks to some sloppy defending, though, there was nothing Guzan could do.

Chris Herd has since gone off injured (though he may return) and for a time, Villa are playing 9 against 11. It'll be a panicky final few minutes of the match, and Villa are looking increasingly as if they'll be lucky to snag one point.

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VIDEO: Christian Benteke Scores, Villa Lead 1-0

Christian Benteke may finally be finding his touch. After scoring twice in the international break, he slotted in a beautiful shot against Norwich in the 26th minute today. Brett Holman sent in a lovely cross, and Benteke managed an inside-out swing with his right foot that completely fooled the keeper into thinking it was heading the other way. Here, see for yourself:

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And why not see that from another angle?

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There is nothing wrong with that goal. It's not breathtaking, but it's exactly the type of chance that a striker SHOULD be finishing off. No sending it over the bar or a million miles wide. If Benteke can keep converting these chances, fans will adore him in absolutely no time.

And finally, my favorite part of this: Paul Lambert is just astoundingly happy!

Lamberthappy

The goal, of course, comes against his former team at a time when many are vocally questioning if Lambert brings what Villa need to the table. This really has to feel good.

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Aston Villa vs. Norwich City: Live Coverage And Open Match Thread

ASTON VILLA

OVERALL: 1-2-1, 5 pts +-7 GD

POSITION: 17th

LAST 5: L-l-D-L-W

NORWICH CITY

OVERALL: 1-3-4, 6 pts -11 GD

POSITION: 15th

LAST 5: W-L-L-L-D

Related: Villa vs Norwich City Preview | Follow us on Twitter


WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

  • At some point in the near future, Aston Villa should probably consider scoring goals. To do that, they're going to need to figure out some way to get some decent service to the strikers. It's not coming through the middle, so wing play is once again of critical importance. Uh oh.
  • Grant Holt is kind of old and kind of slow and kind of only good at one thing, but that one thing is scoring goals and scoring goals is kind of important. So, let's try to mark him and such.
  • I genuinely believe that Karim El Ahmadi is a damned fine deep-lying metronome type midfielder, but for the life of me I don't know which of the central midfielder in Villa's squad are most well suited to play alongside him. How things line up in the center (and how things play out in the center) is something to keep an eye on.
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