Aston Villa kept alive their faint hopes of snatching a Uefa Cup spot after a 4-0 win against Bolton.
Villa finally make their pressure count
Aston Villa kept alive their faint hopes of snatching a Uefa Cup spot after a convincing 4-0 win against struggling Bolton.
Gareth Barry grabbed a brace for Villa, and Gabriel Agbonlahor and Marlon Harwood grabbed one apiece as Martin O'Neill's men ran riot at Villa Park.
Despite heading into the game on the back of three straight defeats Villa dominated proceedings from the off.
Bolton looked like a side short of confidence and found themselves under siege for large periods of the first-half
As a result, it came as no surprise when the hosts opened the scoring inside 10 minutes through Barry's stooping header.
Ashley Young created space on the left and swung in a dangerous cross which allowed the unmarked Villa skipper to power an effort past a helpless Ali Al Habsi in the Bolton goal.
Martin Laursen hit a post with a low drive from a tight angle as Villa pressed for a second, but they were unable to add to their advantage and headed in at the interval with only a narrow lead to show for all their hard work.
However, just 11 minutes into the second half they added a second when Agbonlahor tucked away a low cross from Barry.
Bolton then finally wilted under the pressure as Barry added a third on the hour mark. His half-volley from the edge of the box flicked off Joey O'Brien to wrap up the points for Martin O'Neill's side.
Bolton continued to plug away to no avail with sporadic counter attacks, but saw their defence breached for a fourth time with five minutes remaining.
The Trotters left men marked all afternoon from set-pieces and were made to pay the price when Harewood flicked a free header inside the far post from an inch-perfect Barry free-kick.
Inviting
It took just nine minutes for Villa to go in front through Barry.
Young was the creator as he skipped past Kevin Davies on the left and then cut into the Bolton box before sending over an inviting cross.
Barry, whose previous five goals this season had all been from the penalty spot, timed his run perfectly to send a powerful header past Al Habsi into the corner of the net.
Villa took command and Stiliyan Petrov picked out a surging run from Agbonlahor towards the Bolton box but Joey O'Brien was alert to the situation with a well-timed challenge.
Ex-Villa midfielder Gavin McCann got in an important challenge as Petrov lined up a shot from 20 yards.
Offensive
Davies gave Villa a scare when his cross-cum-shot curled on to the top of the crossbar but the hosts were soon back on the offensive and Taylor flung himself full length to block a shot from the dangerous Young.
Reo-Coker found the dangerous Young in space on the right and Al Habsi did well to cut out his low cross with Agbonlahor and John Carew unmarked in the centre.
Taylor tried his luck from 35 yards with a free-kick which took a wicked deflection off Agbonlahor and wrong-footed Scott Carson but flew just wide.
Bolton's on-loan Liverpool midfielder Guthrie became the first player to be yellow-carded after 37 minutes for a late challenge on Petrov.
Deflection
Martin Laursen hit the post from a narrow angle after a mix-up between Gary Cahill and Al Habsi.
Carew was guilty of a late challenge on Gretar Steinsson and was perhaps fortunate to escape with only a booking.
Villa looked out of sorts for a brief spell at the start of the second period but after 55 minutes they doubled their lead through Agbonlahor.
A quick fire move down the left carved open the Bolton defence with Young finding the overlapping Barry and his first-time cross was deflected past Al Habsi by Agbonlahor.
Glanced
It was the first time Agbonlahor had found the net in 13 matches since scoring against Wigan in late December.
Five minutes later Villa made virtually sure of victory with Barry's second goal.
Young had a shot blocked and the ball ballooned back to Barry whose goal-bound effort took a deflection off Joey O'Brien before beating Al Habsi.
With five minutes left substitute Harewood, who replaced the injured Carew, completed the scoring with a glancing header from Barry's inswinging free-kick.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 4 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.5 |
Passing Success |
70.4 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
36 |
| 83.3 |
Tackles Success |
88.9 |
| 51.1 |
Possession |
48.9 |
| 53.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.7 |
|
