Villa Victorious at Last!

Carla Ward’s squad rally to make the semi-final of the Continental League Cup after beating Brighton and Hove Albion in extra time and penalties.

After a tumultuous start to the league cup competition, Aston Villa Women had a lot to prove in this quarter-final draw against Brighton and Hove Albion, and my word, they didn’t disappoint.

1050 fans were singing loud and proud at the Broadfield Stadium on Wednesday night, (including some Arsenal fans who came along after their match vs London City Lionesses was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch). Even for the neutral, it was 120 minutes of on-the-edge-of-your-seat football; finishing with an incredibly dramatic penalty shootout.

After a draw to Bristol City at the weekend, Carla Ward made two changes to her side giving Ebony Salmon and Simone Magill a place in the starting XI, in place of cup-tied Noelle Maritz and previous Golden Boot winner Rachel Daly, who is serving the first of a 3 match ban after a retrospective red card was awarded for an ‘off the ball’ offence against Megan Connolly.

As the game began in the misty evening, there was nothing to separate the two WSL sides for the first 30 minutes. That was until Katie Robinson broke forward with a driving run down the right-hand side, her pass saw Tatiano Pinto flick it on to the feet of Veatriki Sarri and with a left-footed strike, the ball curled beautifully beyond the gloves of van Domselaar. In the 35th minute, the deadlock was finally broken. As we saw in the matchup between these two teams before Christmas in the WSL, would one goal be enough to progress to the next stage of the competition?

With the home side now 1-0 up, the game continued to be end-to-end with some incredibly close chances for both sides and each keeper was kept on their toes throughout. As the half-time whistle blew, however, it was a chance for the visitors to recover and come back fighting in the second half. Luckily for Villa, they came out with a renewed vigour and it looked as though Ebony Salmon had the equaliser for the visitors, but it was quickly ruled as offside. A huge moment of relief for Brighton.

Thankfully, Villa didn’t give up and if anything, this disallowed goal spurred them on even more to get the equaliser. It was the one and only Kirsty Hanson who finally rippled the back of the net in the 69th minute; after her downward header escaped Baggaley’s grasp. Her euphoric reaction to the goal represented every single Villa fan in that moment as we breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the hope of making the Continental Cup semi-final was restored.
As the game wore on, it was clear that the heavy, water-logged pitch was effecting players on both sides; as every pair of fatigued legs were desperate to keep fighting until the very end. Everyone knew extra time and penalties awaited them if the deadlock wasn’t broken and even though Villa created two noteworthy chances, from Pacheco and Hanson, to take the win in the 90 minutes, Sophie Baggaley showed her brilliant skill to keep them not only out of her goal but also keep Brighton in the game.
With Villa light on substitutes, only two tactical changes were made as Alisha Lehmann came on for Ebony Salmon in the 70th minute and it was fantastic to see talented youngster Georgia Mullett come on in the dying moments of extra time for Simone Magill. Both changes clearly made to try and inject as much energy as Villa was able to off the bench, to settle this before penalties.
The last dramatic turn of events, within open play, was the narrowest miss for a potential own goal by Brighton’s Guro Bergsvand; whose deflection luckily skimmed the cross bar rather than ripple her own net. It was official, the match would be settled by penalties. Which arguably is the best way to win, but also, the worst way to lose after 120 minutes plus stoppage time.

As each team stepped up to the penalty spot, it was up to the keepers to prove why they are their team’s number one and our Daphne van Domselaar absolutely shone in this moment. With all the confidence of the 2022 Euros, which is what first caught our eye, the Dutch international made 3 key saves to put Villa ahead.
A further Brighton shot from Lee Geum-min went wide which meant Villa only had to convert two penalties to make it through. After Sarah Mayling and Rachel Corsie’s shots were both saved, Adriana Leon scored hers with ease straight into the top left corner. Then, Brighton’s top striker Elisabeth Terland took to the spot, but thankfully, her shot was also saved by Villa’s number one. Finally, it was up to Anna Patten to seal the deal for Villa to progress into the semi-finals and she converted with ease. As a fan, it was brilliant to see the team celebrating with Daphne first and foremost (not just with the penalty takers) her gloves really were where the magic truly happened during that penalty shootout.

In her post-match interview, it was clear Carla and the team were so incredibly proud of the performance and couldn’t help but praise the noise from the travelling fans that seemed to help them through the gruelling match. Could this be the start of a turnaround and boost of confidence for the West Midlands side? Only time will tell, but we’ve got everything crossed that it does, as it hasn’t been easy being a Villa fan lately!

Aston Villa women are now through to the semi-final stage of the Continental League Cup, where they will face Arsenal at Meadow Park on Wednesday 6th March.