I don’t know about the rest of the Villa fans, but I’m still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that was our visit to Stamford Bridge, writes Villa blogger Gregg Williams.
It was a game that had everything, and will be remembered as another occasion when our team showed just how far we’ve progressed under Martin O’Neill.
Put simply, we never gave up. When Chelsea scored their fourth Ashley Young couldn’t wait to get the ball back on the centre spot to take the fight back to them.
It could have been so much easier for us, had Michael Ballack been sent off for his elbow on Gareth Barry, Chelsea would have been down to 10 men, while we were still 2-0 up, and he wouldn’t have been on the pitch to do his Oscar winning ‘Superman’ impression that won them their penalty and reduced us to 10 men.
He also wouldn’t have been able to take the free-kick at the end either.
As Martin O’Neill said, you can’t be sure about these things, but if Ballack had gone, it seems unlikely Chelsea could have got back in the game.
How good was our football in the first half?
With our back four and Reo-Coker repeatedly dispossessing Chelsea we were able to unleash Young, Carew, Maloney and Agbonlahor, through Gareth Barry, and it was a joy to watch.
If we can add a bit more strength in depth during the January transfer window we will hopefully be able to kick on up the table.
In the meantime we have to hope the players still have enough left in the tank for the trip to Wigan, which will not be easy.
I’ll be among the huge travelling support attending this match and I’m sure we’ll be making enough noise to make the players think it’s a home game.
If you’re not one of the lucky ones make sure you head down to Villa Park on New Years day for the Spurs game, fingers crossed we can start the new year with a victory.
Villa fans, what do you think? Have your say below
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