Source: Daily_Mail
Aston Villa 2 Stoke 2: Whelan late show dents hosts Champions League hopes
Glenn Whelan's superb injury-time drive completed an incredible, late Stoke[LNB]fightback. Villa [LNB]had been 2-0 up after 87 minutes and appeared to be coasting towards a victory. [LNB]Winning this match would have put eight points between Villa and the chasing pack in the quest for Champions League qualification. [LNB]All the furore about the weakened squad that manager Martin O'Neill sent to Moscow for Villa's midweek Uefa Cup tie seemed irrelevant as Stiliyan Petrov's first goal of the season on the stroke of half-time put them ahead. [LNB][LNB] Afternoon delight: Liam Lawrence salutes point-saving substitute Glenn Whelan as Salif Diao shares a post-match handshake with a disconsolate Gareth Barry [LNB]And few in the crowd could have foreseen a dramatic turn of events after John Carew - rather fortuitously it has to be said - swung his boot at a Petrov through-ball to give Villa a two-goal advantage just 11 minutes from time. [LNB]However, James Beattie shrugged off the disappointment of playing second fiddle to Jamaica international Ricardo Fuller after he was shoved out to the right wing and swung over a cross that was powered home by Ryan Shawcross just three minutes from time. [LNB]And, after the ball bounced around outside Villa's area for far too long, Whelan arrived to thump a shot from the edge of the area past Brad Friedel with almost the last kick of the game to make the Potters' first league trip to Villa Park for 20 years seem worthwhile. [LNB] ASTON VILLA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]STOKE CITY FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]Aston Villa 2 Stoke City 2: How the action unfolded[LNB] [LNB]It has been a difficult seven days for O'Neill - whose 57th birthday was ruined by Whelan's first Barclays Premier League goal. [LNB]'We are pretty devastated,' he said. [LNB]'We were in total control of the game with four or five minutes to go. If we can't see the first one out, then we should see the second one coming. At 2-0, we should see it through. [LNB] Net buster: Stiliyan Petrov's shot is too hot to handle for former Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen as the Bulgarian midfielder opens the scoring for the hosts [LNB] [LNB]'We were brilliant in the first half. Stoke sat in. We had to find ways around it. I thought some of the movement was terrific. The lead was deserved at half-time. We weren't really in any danger. For the first time ever, though, I thought that there might have been an air of over-confidence. I really felt that. [LNB]'As for my decision in midweek, I wish that one game in this day and age would vindicate your decision for the whole season. That's simply not the case. Am I going to be pilloried for ever? [LNB]'Bottom line, we should have seen it through. Top-four sides would have. I'm talking about the established top four.' [LNB] Heads up: Ashley Young rises to beat Stoke scorer Ryan Shawcross in the air [LNB] [LNB]In the past fortnight, O'Neill has seen Villa tumble out of the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and miss a real opportunity to stamp their mark on the Premier League season. [LNB]It is hardly any reason for the club's followers to complain. However, supporters will now wonder whether resting the players - and forfeiting a spot in Europe that the club worked so hard for last season - was worth it. [LNB]Pulis smiled when he was asked whether the Potters deserved their point. [LNB]They certainly earned it. If, for nothing else than a dogged determination not to concede in the first half when Thomas Sorensen, in the visitors' goal, dealt with cross after cross before going off at half time with sickness. Petrov's goal, after good work by James Milner, was the least Villa deserved. But they lost their way. [LNB] It's a knockout: Stoke keeper Sorensen punches a dangerous Villa cross clear to divert the pressure of centre-half Curtis Davies (centre) [LNB] [LNB]Stoke manager Tony Pulis said: 'I thought we were very poor in the first half. That was down to me. I wanted to play with wing-backs because they cause so many problems down the side of the pitch. But it just didn't work.' [LNB]Potters' re-organised and sent on Fuller 10 minutes after the break. [LNB]'I didn't want them to score before half-time, but I changed it back to our normal formation,' Pulis added. [LNB]'But then Carew has scored - I think he meant that - and you think the game is over. [LNB] John Carew's goal seemed to have sealed a precious win for Champions League hopefuls Villa until substitute Glenn Whelan spoiled the home celebrations late on [LNB] [LNB]'But I've been in that position as a manager before. It's not over until it is over. [LNB]'Everyone outside Stoke thinks that we are the team that will get relegated. But we think we are going to stay up.' [LNB]The irony would not be lost on O'Neill that it was because of fatigue that he decided against taking his full-strength squad to Russia. It was in the last few minutes when Villa were found wanting.[LNB] Recovery begins: Shawcross jumps highest to pull a goal back for Stoke[LNB] [LNB]'Was I disappointed he left all the players out?' added Pulis with a smile. [LNB]'Yes. I was one of those ones on the radio giving him a load of stick.' [LNB]After two goals in the final few minutes, he could afford to smile.[LNB]MATCH FACTS [LNB]ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Friedel 6, Cuellar 6, Knight 6, Davies 7, L Young 7; Milner 6, Barry 7, Petrov 8, A Young 6; Heskey 5, (Carew 75min, 7) Agbonlahor 6. Booked: A Young.[LNB]STOKE CITY (5-3-2): Sorensen 6, (Simonsen 46, 6); Wilkinson 6, Sonko 5, Shawcross 6, Higginbotham 6, Pugh 5 (Fuller 54, 8); Lawrence 7, Diao 5, Faye 5 (Whelan 64, 7); Beattie 6, Sidibe 5. Booked: Shawcross. [LNB]Man of the match: Stiliyan Petrov. Referee: Howard Webb.[LNB] ASTON VILLA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]STOKE CITY FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]Aston Villa 2 Stoke City 2: How the action unfolded[LNB][LNB] [LNB]
