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  • Young, A (5), Agbonlahor (43), Carew (53), Milner (72), Cuellar (75)
  • Elmander (44)
  • Date:2009-11-07
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:Villa Park
  • Attendance:38101
  • Referee:Clattenburg, M

Live Commentary

90mins

Full-Time: ASTON VILLA 5-1 BOLTON.

90mins

Great save from Jaaskelainen as he denies Young who shot directly from a free kick, Villa corner but it comes to nothing.

90mins

Robinson is booked for Bolton.

90mins

There will be three minutes of added time, Villa are just passing it around now and Bolton look like they can't wait for half-time.

88mins

Craig Gardner's first contribution is to pick up a yellow card.

87mins

Villa bring Fabian Delph, a summer signing from Leeds, on for Nigel Reo-Coker, Craig Gardner also replaces Steve Sidwell.

84mins

Delfouneso gets his first touch and has a go from range but Jaaskelainen gathers comfortably.

81mins

James Milner makes way for Villa youngster Nathan Delfouneso.

79mins

Carew hits a vicious effort goalwards but his shot goes inches over the Bolton crossbar.

77mins

Bolton have a corner, Taylor swings it in and Cahill heads goalwards but his shot is wide and Villa have a goal kick.

75mins

ASTON VILLA 5-1 BOLTON. Ashley Young's cross finds Carlos CUELLAR who heads past Jaaskelainen, great cross from Young.

73mins

Lee shoots just wide of Friedel's goal.

72mins

ASTON VILLA 4-1 BOLTON. MILNER saw his penalty saved, the ball falls to Sidwell who hit the post with the goal gaping but Milner buried the rebound.

71mins

Davies picked up a yellow card for his foul on Carew.

71mins

Villa have a penalty kick as Davies fouls Carew.

71mins

Steinsson's first touck sees him blaze a cross way over the cross bar.

68mins

Ricketts makes way for Steinsson as Gary Megson makes a like-for-like substitution.

68mins

Ashley Young crosses the ball low and hard in front of the Bolton goal but there is no one there to bury it.

64mins

Luke Young crosses the ball into the Bolton box but Sidwell heads over the bar.

62mins

Bolton throw level with the Villa penalty area, Ricketts launches the ball in but Dunne clears for Villa.

60mins

Well that third goal has really taken the wind out of Bolton's sails, Villa are very much in control at the moment without really trying to get forward.

55mins

Great interplay between A Young and Agbonlahor before Ricketts clears for a Villa throw deep in the Bolton half.

53mins

ASTON VILLA 3-1 BOLTON. Bitter blow for Bolton who were putting on the pressure, CAREW out-muscled Knight and dodged Cahill's challenge before firing beyond Jaaskelainen.

52mins

Ashley Young's cross beats everyone and Bolton have a goal kick, this is really open at the moment with both sides trying to get forward.

51mins

Great save from Jaaskelainen as he stops Young's shot, after a mistake from Ricketts.

51mins

Bolton free kick after Lee was caught by Ashley Young - Lee just outpaced Young, don't see that very often!

49mins

Davies sets up Muamba who forces a decent save from Friedel, Bolton have started the brighter of the two sides in the second half.

47mins

Matt Taylor gets an early shot on target for Bolton but Luke Young blocks his effort.

46mins

The second half is underway at Villa Park, neither manager has made any changes at half time.

45mins

Half-Time: ASTON VILLA 2-1 BOLTON.

45mins

Last chance for Bolton before the break, they've got a corner which Taylor takes but it comes to nothing.

45mins

Gary Cahill receives a yellow card.

44mins

ASTON VILLA 2-1 BOLTON: Route one from Bolton, a long ball into the penalty area finds Gary Cahill who hits the post but Johan ELMANDER is there to pick up the pieces.

42mins

ASTON VILLA 2-0 BOLTON: John Carew outmuscles Gary Cahill as he tried to shepherd the ball out of play, Carew sets up AGBONLAHOR who scuffs his shot but it beats Jaaskelainen.

40mins

Villa free kick just inside the centre-circle, the ball is played to Young who delivers the cross but Jaaskelainen catches easily.

38mins

Nice move from Bolton as Elmander, Taylor and Muamba link up well, however Gardner's cross is intercepted by Reo-Coker.

36mins

Taylor had to have treatment after landing awkwardly when he attempted his shot, he looks alright though.

36mins

Taylor attempts an acrobatic effort inside the penalty area but his shot was way off target.

35mins

Kevin Davies attempted to play Elmander in but Cuellar made a great interception to halt the Bolton attack.

33mins

A nice bit of pressure from Bolton, Ricketts and Taylor have both put decent crosses into the box and that was probably the best spell Bolton have had so far.

29mins

Johan Elmander replaces Tamir Cohen for Bolton, the midfielder looks to be injured but Bolton have now gone 4-4-2 with Elmander joining Kevin Davies in attack.

28mins

Villa win yet another corner, Ashley Young fizzes it across the penalty area but Bolton are awrded a free-kick.

25mins

Villa have just won two corners in quick succession, Bolton manage to clear but they do not look comfortable when defending these Villa set-pieces.

23mins

Cohen booked for Bolton.

23mins

Bolton really haven't troubled Villa at all and the home side have enjoyed the majority of possession.

21mins

Young's corner nearly brings a goal for Agbonlahor but his effort is weak and Jaaskelainen gathers.

20mins

Villa corner after Gardner cleared Young's delivery, Milner launches the corner and Gardner clears for another corner.

17mins

Carew heads the ball down to Agbonlahor, he turns and shoots but his effort is off target.

16mins

Milner's cross is easily plucked out of the air by Jaaskelainen.

15mins

Young's cross sails over the Bolton crossbar, Villa have enjoyed the majority of possesion since their goal and Bolton haven't troubled them yet.

13mins

Bolton free kick after Lee is fouled, Rickett's takes this one but Cuellar deals with the delivery and clears the danger.

11mins

Sam Ricketts does well to halt A Young's run down the wing, the ball comes off Young and Bolton have a goal kick.

9mins

More Bolton pressure from a long free kick but Villa manage to clear through Warnock.

7mins

Good response from Bolton as Kevin Davies heads Taylor's cross goalwards but Cuellar makes a decent block to deny the Bolton striker.

4mins

ASTON VILLA 1-0 BOLTON: James Milner placed a ball onto Carew's head, the striker saw his effort saved by Jaaskelainen but Ashley YOUNG buried the rebound.

4mins

Villa corner after Ashley Young's cross was blocked by Sam Ricketts, Young delivered the ball himself with Cuellar getting a headed shot on target but Jaaskelainen made a decent save.

3mins

Good ball into the area from Gabby Agbonlahor but Paul Robinson clears for the Wanderers.

0mins

The game is underway at Villa Park.

0mins

Habib Beye's red-card against West Ham rules him out of this one but Carlos Cuellar returns for Villa, kick off is at 15:00 and today's referee is Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

0mins

James Milner has shaken off an injury and he makes the starting line-up, though Emile Heskey hasn't been so lucky and he has been ruled out. Nigel Reo-Coker replaces the suspended Stiliyan Petrov in the Villa midfield.

0mins

Bolton line up with former Villa men Gary Cahill and Zat Knight in the heart of their defence, though Jloyd Samuel is suspended for the match against his former employers and Gavin McCann doesn't even make the bench.

0mins

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Muamba, Cohen, Taylor, Gardner, Kevin Davies. Subs: Al Habsi, Elmander, Steinsson, Mark Davies, Klasnic, Basham, Andrew O'Brien.

0mins

Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Milner, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor. Subs: Guzan, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Shorey, Gardner, Clark.

Match Preview

Aston Villa could find themselves inside the Premier League's top four with victory over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Martin O'Neill's side have shrugged off a slow start to the season to move up to seventh place in the table on the back of a four-match unbeaten run.

Last weekend's 1-1 draw with Everton maintained that sequence but highlighted that goals remain a problem for the Midlands club this season.

Apart from five-goal Gabriel Agbonlahor, no Villa striker has scored more than once in the Premier League during the first ten games.

Defender Richard Dunne is the club's second highest scorer with two and O'Neill will be hoping for an improvement as the season progresses.

Carlos Cuellar is suspended for the visit of the Trotters following his late red card against Everton and joins James Milner (calf), Stiliyan Petrov (knee), Curtis Davies (shoulder) and Stewart Downing (ankle) on the sidelines.

Bolton will be no pushovers though as they arrive in the Midlands on the back of their own solid series of results.

Last weekend's 4-0 defeat at home to Chelsea was a minor aberration as Gary Megson's side had won four of their seven previous games.

Many pundits choice for a relegation battle are currently sitting relatively pretty in mid-table with their away form particularly impressive.

Six of their 11 points have been secured on the road and last season they secured a 1-1 draw at Villa Park.

However, Megson still believes there is plenty of room for improvement after warning Zat Knight to sharpen up during the week and the defender could find himself out of the starting line up for the trip to the club he left during the summer.


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Match Report

John Carew restored some much-needed confidence in the Aston Villa ranks with a fine individual performance as he spearheaded a runaway win over struggling Bolton.

The well-built striker created the first two goals for Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor.

Carew then notched the third himself and later won a penalty from which James Milner eventually scored, before the England winger produced the cross from which Carlos Cuellar scored Villa's fifth.

It was a much-needed boost for a Villa side which has often promised much only to disappoint against lower division teams, but they had little trouble chalking up only their second win in seven games.

Bolton, the only team in the Premier League not to keep a clean sheet, were again found wanting in defence and have now conceded 15 goals in their last four matches and they are in obvious trouble.

Villa, meanwhile, were forced to make four changes from the side which played at West Ham in midweek. The most significant was the recall of Nigel Reo-Coker.

It was his first start since the Birmingham City game on September 13 following a training ground confrontation with manager Martin O'Neill.

Reo-Coker was surprisingly made captain when he replaced the suspended Stiliyan Petrov.

Luke Young stepped up for his first game of the season as Wales international James Collins was ruled out with a groin injury.

With only one win from their previous six league games it was imperative for Villa to make as bright start and they responded in fine style with an opening goal from Ashley Young after just five minutes.

Only a minute previously they had threatened danger with Cuellar forcing Jussi Jaaskelainen to make a fine save.

The Trotters keeper was again in action when he pushed out a Carew header from Milner's cross, but Ashley Young was on hand to net his third goal of the season.

This was a bad setback to Bolton's leaky defence. They were subjected to considerable pressure and as a result were unable to advance in any great depth.

Their only serious attack came from a right cross by Matthew Taylor which produced a goalbound header from skipper Kevin Davies but Cuellar was on the line to head clear.

The former Villa central defenders, Gary Cahill and Zat Knight, combined to foil the threat of Agbonlahor and Carew following a somewhat shaky start, but it was only the lull before the storm.

Cahill, however, was at fault in the 42nd minute when he attempted to run the ball out of play.

Carew gained possession and slipped a pass back into the path of Agbonlahor to score with a left-footed shot through the legs of Paul Robinson.

A minute later, Cahill atoned when he went up into the attack and slammed his shot against the post with substitute Johan Elmander hitting home the rebound to put Bolton back into the game.

Any hopes of Bolton springing another surprise was dented in the 53rd minute when Carew's sheer persistence earned the Villa striker his third goal of the season.

Carew collected a Milner pass and then beat both Knight and Cahill to push his shot past Jaaskelainen to notch a goal he richly deserved on his overall play.

In the 71st minute Carew won a penalty when pushed by Davies. Milner took the spot-kick only to see it saved by Jaaskelainen only for Steve Sidwell to hit his shot against the post.

Fortunately for Villa, Milner was on hand to convert the rebound to seal the match and crush Bolton.

Aston Villa

Bolton Wanderers

Corners

81

Fouls

1617

Goal attempts

2011

Shots off target

85

Offsides

21

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