Express & Star

Monday analysis: Meltdown averted - yet Aston Villa remain a team with a death wish

A day which failed to deliver the result Villa desired, nevertheless ended with the over-riding sense a meltdown had been averted.

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Two goals down after just 37 minutes and with a rapidly rising anger all too detectable in the stands, Saturday afternoon had every indication of becoming an ugly one for Dean Smith and his team.

Their subsequent fightback, against a Hull outfit who had won their previous six games, was therefore worthy of credit.

True, in the greater context of the promotion race, the 2-2 draw represented another setback.

Yet instead of leaving the field at full-time to deafening boos, Villa’s players exited to applause from supporters for whom their resilience and vastly improved second half performance offered at least a modicum of hope for the weeks ahead.

Hope, however, is all it shall ever be, unless Smith can somehow find a cure for the defensive disasters which remain, by far and away, the biggest reason for his team being anchored in mid-table.

Villa, to put it bluntly, continue to be a team with a death wish, the goals netted for the Tigers by Jarrod Bowen and Evandro on Saturday falling, like so many this term, into the ‘easily avoidable’ and ‘trouble of their own making’ categories.

Bowen’s 27th-minute opener came after the hosts had failed to deal with a simple long ball, his shot from the edge of the box going under the diving body of goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic.

Just 10 minutes later, Evandro was left in acres of space at the far post to volley home Kamil Grosicki’s inviting cross and double the advantage.

All of this had followed a remarkable clearance by James Chester with the still game goal-less, while Villa would later have Kalinic to thank for ensuring their fightback did not go to waste, when he saved at point-blank range from Chris Martin in the final minute.

The statistics, suffice to say, do not make pleasant reading. Villa have now conceded 45 league goals this season, already three more than in the whole of last term.

They currently hold the third-worst defensive record in the Championship, with only Rotherham and bottom club Ipswich, who visit Villa Park this Saturday, having conceded more.

Even more alarming is how much of the damage is being done on their own patch.

A winless run in B6 – which on Saturday extended to five games – has seen Villa score 13 goals but concede 14, proof if any more were required they are a team who can’t help but make things harder for themselves.

Much focus has fallen on Villa’s struggles during Jack Grealish’s absence, though the loss of Axel Tuanzebe has been felt just as keenly.

While it is true the defence has leaked goals all season, no matter the personnel, the only period of positive progress occured when the Manchester United loanee was handed a run in the heart of the backline.

Kortney Hause, once up to speed, may help matters, while Smith remains keen to add further defensive reinforcements before the month is out.

Carrying out major surgery at this stage of the campaign will be no easy task. There also remains a nagging sense the root cause of the problem might lie in a system which, with the players currently at head coach’s disposal, appears highly susceptible to the counter-attack.

At least Saturday’s second half showed signs Villa can, with the right mental approach, make it work. Smith’s men, in truth, caught something of a break when Hull’s impressive centre-back, Jordy de Wijs, was forced off through injury. That meant the visitors were still reorganising for the free-kick from which Chester headed his fifth of the seasonto get his team back in it.

The afternoon’s defining moment, before then, had been when Albert Adomah and Yannick Bolasie both shied away from the ball in the opposition box, to howls of deserved derision from the home support.

At that point, Villa looked as listless as they had done during the sorry 3-0 defeat Wigan seven days previously.

Chester’s goal instantly transformed the mood and Tammy Abraham’s 17th of the campaign then completed the comeback.

A winner remained elusive and for Villa this will continue to be a season of nearly but not quite, unless they can learn how to stop being their own worst enemy.

Villa (4-3-3): Kalinic 6, Hutton 5, Elphick 7, Chester 6, Taylor 6, McGinn 8, Bjarnason 5 (Kodjia 5 75), Hourihane 5, Adomah 4 (Green 6 59), Abraham 7, Bolasie 3 (El Ghazi 6 59) Subs not used: Hause, Elmohamady, Davis, Steer (gk).