Yesterday Chelsea brutally swept aside a Villa side that played in the spirit of the game. The win means that Chelsea still have the double as a possibility. For Villa it means two sad trips to Wembley that ended up with them losing.
Martin O’Niell must be wishing that he had never played under brian Clough. His sides play with the same predominantly clean style of football. Villa have this season seen their dreams destroyed by teams that play a much more physical game.
As an onlooker who simply likes to see good football whoever is playing I am sad to say that this was another game that was decided mainly by the referee. Howard Webb who is supposedly one of our better officials was found wanting yet again.
15 minutes in and Villa were attacking when Agbonlahor brilliantly turned Obi in the box only to be bundled over for a stonewall, cast iron, certain penalty. That is to everybody in the stadium except for the blind official in charge of the game.
Villa did not lose their cool and continued to dictate to Chelsea, going close when a Terry flick kept Carew from getting a giltedged chance. Half-time arrived and the talk was all about the penalty that was not given.
The second half saw chances dry up as Chelsea played more in midfield. When the first goal finally came it came after a bit of good work from Drogba and even better from Dunne as he conceded a corner.
The corner came in and a basic error from Dunne undid all of his good work. Instead of heading the ball up and away he headed it down. The ball reached Terry whose shot was turned in by Drogba.
Villa might have been able to get back into the game but another horrendous error by the referee ensured Chelsea remained carefree. milner was savagely brought down with a violent lunge from John Terry. As a bystander I was simply relieved to see Milner eventually climb back to his feet.
The tackle was severe enough to have been career threatening. If James Milner had had his weight on the leg Terry hit with his studs up lunge just below the side of Milner’s knee, it could have been end of career.
This time Howard (I see no evil when it is from the big 4) Webb did actually see the incident. Terry was given a yellow card for the savage over the top tackle that came from the side in another case of a cowardly attack.
There was never any doubt after that who would win. The Villa lads kept trying but they appeared to sense that nothing would allow them to spoil Chelsea’s day. Two more goals were scored by Chelsea but by then any fair minded football supporter had been sickened by the failure of the referee.
Nobody will ever know whether the penalty claim in the first half would have resulted in a Villa win. Nor whether Terry getting his just deserts would have helped Villa get back into the game. But one thing is damn sure.
A hell of a lot of young children watching Chelsea and John Terry specifically get away with yet another act of brutality is not good for the game. Especially when we have had two Wembley games now and both were ruined by an incompetent referee.
The children are being told that it is ok to tackle in a way that might finish a players career. All you have to do is play for one of the big teams and you have a good chance of getting away with it. More so when you play a soft team like Aston Villa who try to play in the way the game was intended to be played.
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