As Aston Villa’s rollercoaster of a season is nearly over; this penultimate outing against the Seagulls at the Broadfield Stadium, is a huge opportunity to take 3 points back to the West Midlands.
Off the pitch, it’s been an emotional week for the away side and their fans, as the incredible gaffer, Carla Ward, made the shock announcement she was stepping down as manager; in order to spend more quality time with her family. This has left the two remaining matches as a way for the team to show the fight, passion and grit they’ve always shown in times of hardship and what better way to send off Ward than getting a win today.
The Seagulls themselves, however, have had their own disappointing season. After sacking manager Mel Phillips, they’ve struggled with consistency and haven’t picked up any points since 3rd March. Therefore, with neither team being consistent this season, it was impossible to predict just how tight this match up was going to be.
As the team news was announced, there were only two Villa changes from the side who faced West Ham at Villa Park last week. Anna Leat was back in goal after serving her suspension (although credit to Sophia Poor for a fantastic job in her absence, it would have been great to see her given a start out of choice) and Alisha Lehmann, after her goal scoring success, earned her place back in the starting XI. This meant it was Canadian superstar Adriana Leon (who scored the only goal to give Villa the win in the reverse fixture before Christmas) who dropped to the bench.
From a Brighton perspective, they were without Pauline Bremer who has been an important addition for the Seagulls this season with Colombian Jorelyn Carabalí taking her place. Luckily for the home side, they still had their super striker Elisabeth Terland (who is joint second goalscorer with Lauren James this season) as she was deemed fit to play the full 90 after doubts were raised during the week.
Before the game even started, the atmosphere was something special due to many away fans showing up in fancy dress for the occasion (similar to the tradition in the men’s game) and were such a credit to the club as they sang and beat their drum all of the way through the match, willing their girls in claret and blue to get the win. The fans’ dedication to their team both home and away has been commendable this season and the club should be incredibly proud to have such passionate fans repping the claret and blue all over the country.
Unlike Villa’s recent formation, today saw Rachel Daly leading the line with Kirsty Hanson and Alisha Lehmann able to run the wings, with Kenza Dali sitting just behind which was to prove successful.
As the game began, it took both teams a while to settle, but soon Villa fans were treated to a glimpse of last season as the Daly/Dali link up kicked back into action. Shortly before the thirty minute mark, Daly’s shot went into the hands of the keeper which was the best chance of the match so far, of course set up by the duo in question. It was Villa who looked the most promising to get the win in the opening half.
As the game wore on, Villa looked as though a goal was imminent, as Alisha Lehmann’s shot went wide. However, Brighton weren’t completely out of the game and looked their most dangerous on the rare counter. Despite the first 45 minutes lacking much pace, it was hard for either team to gain (or maintain) momentum.
Disaster almost struck Villa however, when Terland intercepted Leat’s attempt to play out from the back, but luckily the New Zealand international was alert to the danger and it ultimately came to nothing. This gave Brighton a much needed lease of life and within moments Simons was given far too much space, and was able to play a lovely through-ball to Terland. As the shot was inches away from finding the back of the net; it was a message to Villa that this game wasn’t going to be plain sailing. Against the run of play, suddenly the home side were forcing the visitors into multiple errors making it almost impossible for them to get out of their own half.
In one of the rare periods of high intensity during the game, it was suddenly end to end and it remained unclear who would take their opportunity first. The visitors ultimately came the closest, as Kirsty Hanson tried her luck with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar. If it’d gone in, it definitely would have been a contender for goal of the month!
From an officiating standpoint, it was progress from the last time Villa had this same referee at Leicester (which was incredibly inconsistent) as there seemed to be more communication and consistency throughout the match. In a bittersweet turn of events, Miri Taylor was unable to continue after a challenge, bringing the long awaited return of Lucy Parker into midfield.
A fan favourite for good reason, as she continued Taylor’s brilliantly physical presence on the pitch.
As the first half came to a close, it was interesting to watch how the midfield selection were able to finally provide the service Daly had been sorely lacking since the beginning of the season and allowed Daly to be the centre forward she truly is (without having to provide her own service too).
With the improvements in midfield and up top so strikingly obvious, it then made it very clear that the Villa defence wasn’t as iron clad as it should have been and Brighton were able to have moments were they cut through the whole backline entirely. Both teams throughout the game had had their opportunities to score, but neither were clinical enough.
As both teams pushed for the win, it was a pleasure to see Villa having a much more consistent game as the team looked and felt like a stronger unit. The only thing missing was a goal and that was about to change.
In the 62nd minute, it looked as though Villa’s number nine, Rachel Daly, was going to add to her tally as she picked up a lovely long pass from Maritz and ran through the Brighton defence. Ultimately, she was muscled off the ball by Thorisdottir in the box but luckily the rebound fell to the feet of Lehmann, who kept it low to fire it past the keeper. Making it 2 in 2 for the Swiss international.
That little bit of magic was to be her last touch of the game, as Adriana Leon replaced her on the pitch. Jordan Nobbs and Anna Patten also made way for Rachel Corsie and Ebony Salmon too, refiguring Villa’s set up to a 4-4-2 with Rachel Daly dropping back into midfield. Arguably, the next thirty minutes were amongst some of the best football we’ve seen Villa play all season; with the link up play between Leon and Salmon up there with some of the most technically impressive moments of the match. The Canadian superstar almost came close to a goal of her own, making an instant impact on the pitch with her impressive footwork and lovely cross into the box, which was seconds away from finding Kirsty Hanson.
Which begged the question for all Villa fans watching, where has this been all season? But most importantly, what’s changed in order for them to play this way… and can we bottle it up to keep it somewhere safe for the future?
Not only was the Leon/Salmon link up something to admire, but the consistency of the Daly/Dali connection reminded us why Kenza is fondly regarded as the magician of midfield. It felt like another Villa goal was coming with the much more confident, fluid play that was being displayed, just like the Villa of last season.
In all fairness to Brighton, Thorisdottir had been brilliant for them during the ninety and managed to put a stop to a lot of promising Villa opportunities. It was also an occasion to mark the first WSL appearance this season for Stefanović after being plagued by injury.
The home side definitely had their moments in the second half, mainly from reliable players Elisabeth Terland and Veatriki Sarri, but the game overall was definitely Villa’s to lose. In an attempt to find some of their own magic, Lioness Katie Robinson came on as a later substitute and created one of Brighton’s closest chances of the game, but still couldn’t find the back of the net.
Additionally, it was a pleasure to see Lucy Parker back on the pitch, as she’s a player who takes the initiative to create new opportunities. One such movement, switching the play found Ebony Salmon down the left hand side, who made a brilliant run but her shot came off the keeper. Brighton substitute Stefanović then used her physicality very well to keep Kirsty Hanson off the ball and away from the rebound.
The rest of the half passed with a few half chances, but where Aston Villa are concerned they’re never far from some late drama. It would have been great to see more attack from Villa in the closing stages; as it would have shown intent and not just being content to keep the ball in the belief it’ll stay 1-0 until the end, as we saw against West Ham, anything can happen in the final moments.
Finally, the whistle blew and Villa could breathe a sigh of relief at having not only scored first, but didn’t concede to take the win! A massive 3 points to confirm a 7th place finish this season, not too bad considering how worrying the first half of the season both looked and felt. On the other hand, this was Brighton’s 5th consecutive loss and even 9th place isn’t a given, as their final game of the season is away to current third place Arsenal.
Aston Villa Women have their final match of the season against Manchester City at Villa Park on Saturday 18th May 2024, where many of us are hoping to see not only City lift the trophy, but also Carla Ward and legend Steph Houghton get the fantastic send off that they deserve.
Photo Credit: Many thanks to the AVWFC Fan Club and E. Howe for providing the images in this blog!
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