Saido Berahino went from villain to hero after scoring the decisive goal in the West Midlands Derby to condemn Aston Villa to back-to-back Premier League defeats.
The England forward threatened to go on strike at West Bromwich Albion on Deadline Day earlier this month but after patching up his differences, Berahino did his talking on the pitch this time with a deft finish six minutes before half time. It capped a professional Albion performance against a limp and lacklustre Villa side which has now slumped to their fourth loss in the last five league games.
It could have started far worse for the home side as Chris Brunt’s brilliant cross into the box after 60 seconds was met powerfully by record signing Salomon Rondon. His header flew straight at Brad Guzan who palmed the effort away.
The warning shots had been fired but Albion continued to look the more threatening with Guzan tipping away a Darren Fletcher effort midway through the half after the Albion skipper shrugged off Ashley Westwood.
Gabby Agbonlahor managed to open up the Albion defence when his quick turn of pace let him in down the left-flank but Carles Gil had his effort on goal blocked by the Baggies’ backline. The breakthrough came in the 39th minute when left-back Jordan Amavi was beaten to a 50-50 challenge on the edge of his own box. A looping cross was laid off to James Morrison by Rondon and his effort was cleverly deflected in off the outstretched boot of Berahino.
Villa’s intensity improved in the second half but their cutting edge in the final third still left a lot to be desired, managing their first shot on target in the 52nd minute and just three in total. They can perhaps feel hard done by for having a goal disallowed – Micah Richards heading home only to find that referee Martin Atkinson had already blown his whistle for a foul on Jack Grealish.
In truth a goal would have flattered Villa as Albion cruised through the derby with composure and control to leave the Villans staring at their worst start to a season since 1986-87. The reaction at the final whistle told its own story with boos and jeers from the hosts as Berahino and his teammates joined the away side for jubilant celebrations.
Formations
Alan Hutton came into the home defence to add some extra grit but it was largely the same team which started against Leicester with Tim Sherwood opting for a 4-4-1-1 formation with Scott Sinclair supporting Agbonlahor in attack.
Aston Villa XI (4-4-1-1): Guzan (GK); Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amavi; Gil, Westwood, Sanchez, Grealish; Sinclair; Agbonlahor.
Sensing that the script was already written for Berahino, manager Tony Pulis started him for the first time since his transfer saga with Tottenham Hotspur. James McClean was also drafted in to replace Callum McManaman as Albion lined up in a 4-5-1 formation designed to stifle the hosts’ midfield.
West Bromwich Albion XI (4-5-1): Myhill (GK); Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Brunt; McClean, Fletcher, Morrison, Berahino, Yacob; Rondon.
Albion rise to the occasion
After the double heartache of losing twice to Villa in a week last season, Pulis made sure his Albion side wanted this derby game far more than Villa’s new-look team. All game they pressed the hosts in key areas – including high up the pitch when they needed to – and never let them settle.
This is echoed up by WhoScored.com as Albion dispossessed their city rivals 27 times during the game. Eight of those came from forward players Rondon and Berahino which shows the Baggies attacked and defended as a unit.
Albion put in more effort too with McClean, Fletcher and Craig Dawson covering a distance of 21.7 miles over the 90 minutes compared to Villa’s 20.2 miles clocked up by Westwood, Grealish and Amavi.
Just like Leicester did to Villa last week, the five-man Albion midfield overwhelmed Westwood and Carlos Sanchez and were able to set the tone of the game accordingly. Villa made significantly more passes than Albion – 450 to 295 – and yet the away side made 10 key passes in the game to Villa’s seven showing that the hosts were largely ineffectual.
Berahino too hot to handle
The 22-year-old largely played out wide for Albion and contributed to the five-man midfield which outmuscled the home side for large parts of the game. His speed and trickery on the wing pushed Alan Hutton further back meaning Villa had less of a threat down their right-hand side despite two Albion players – Brunt and Morrison picking up bookings fairly early in proceedings. This meant Villa should have attacked them down that flank far more often than they did but largely due to Berahino’s threat this never materialised.
Where the English striker really excelled was when he occasionally drifted into the central role he is more accustomed to playing. For the goal, he ghosted in between centre-back pairing Richards and Joleon Lescott – who were preoccupied by Rondon – and used the slightest of touches to deceive Guzan in the Villa goal. Yet, interestingly, his impact on the overall game was largely down to key moments like his goal or the threat he posed rather than the fact he was heavily involved – Berahino only touched the ball 35 times: the fourth lowest total for all 22 starters.
No Villa threat in final third
Sinclair, playing as a central striker in the first half, yet again failed to build on his promising form of late and was virtually non-existent, touching the ball only nine times in 45 minutes. By comparison, Villa substitute Jordan Veretout touched the ball the same number of times in eight second half minutes.
He will have to take some of the blame for failing to get involved more in what was a huge game for both teams. However, Villa’s approach in the opening period also contributed to his anonymous display. Rather than playing through the middle, Villa delivered 12 crosses in the first half despite playing with Agbonlahor and Sinclair as a central pair – neither is famed for their heading ability and both are more clinical on the ground.
Sinclair was rightly substituted at half time and target man Rudy Gestede was introduced to capitalise on his aerial threat. But even though Villa were chasing the game and now had a genuine goal-scorer from aerial positions on the pitch, Villa bizarrely put in fewer crosses in the second half (10) than they did before the break. Indeed of the 10 aerial duels that Gestede did win in the second half, not a single one came in the opposition penalty area. This is a stark indication that Villa are not playing to their strengths and, perhaps in their desperation to get back to winning ways, are becoming muddled in their approach.
Conclusion
A job well done for Tony Pulis’ men and whatever critics may say about his playing style, the former Stoke City boss always gets results. The Baggies have now lost just one of their last seven Premier League matches on the road (W4 D2 L1), keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Villa, meanwhile, have lost two derby matches in six days with bitter rivals Birmingham City the next opponents on Tuesday night in the Capital One Cup – a clash which Villa must surely win to give Sherwood’s troops some positivity ahead of a crucial run of fixtures in the league. Up until this loss, Sherwood would have taken comport from the fact that points haven’t generally matched performances. He will be particularly worried, therefore, that in one of their biggest games of the season his side simply didn’t turn up.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook
