By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa FA Cup 29th January 2012

With Aston Villa going in at half-time two goals up, Arsene Wenger would no doubt have been preparing himself for a mountain of abuse from the Emirates crowd for the rest of the afternoon.

1. Mario Balotelli should not have been on the pitch to score the winner against Spurs. He should have been answering questions at the local nick after his stamp on Scott Parker. 2. Everyone said Spurs would miss Emmanuel Adebayor's height, but they can hardly have envisaged Jermain Defoe's little legs unable to stretch far [.

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Aston Villa Premier League 21 January 2012

Joining the procession of MLS stars getting in a bit of off-season action in the Premier League, LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane returned to the home of his first professional club, only to help send Wolves to a 3-2 defeat.

12:30pm ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
3-1 Liverpool (h) 08.27.11
2-1 Liverpool (h) 01.01.11
1-0 Liverpool (a) 10.31.10
2-0 Liverpool (h) 01.30.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-0 Stoke (h); 1-0 City (a); 5-1 Oldham (h)
Bolton: 2-0 Macclesfield (h); 0-3 United (a); 2-2 Macclesfield (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 5; Bellamy 4; Adam, Carroll, Gerrard, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Henderson, Johnson 1
Bolton: Klasnic 7; Eagles 3; K Davies, Ngog, Reo-Coker 2; Boyata, M Davies, Muamba, Petrov, Ricketts 1
Referee: Kevin Friend
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Henderson Gerrard
Downing Shelvey Maxi
Carroll
The same questions and concerns continue to be the focus.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-3 Aston Villa Premier League 31st December 2011

Coming only days after he was chastised by manager Alex McLeish for being photographed with a hookah pipe and drink in hand, Stephen Ireland rediscovered his best midfield form to inspire the Villans to a superb and surpirsing victory at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United missed out on the chance to begin the new year on top of the Premier League after suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at home against Blackburn Rovers.

Sir Alex Ferguson turned 70 today but it was a birthday the United manager will want to forget after witnessing his side rally from 2-0 down only to lose to Grant Hanley's late winner.

The holiday schedule always throws up upsets and today was no exception as both Manchester United and Chelsea lost at home.

United was maybe the biggest surprise of the season as they lost 3-2 at home to Blackburn Rovers, on what was Sir Alex Ferguson turned 70th birthday.

United missed a great chance to go top of the league and Blackburn fully deserved the win.

Scorers:
Drogba (Chel) 23′ pen
Ireland (Ast) 28′
Petrov (Ast) 83′
Bent (Ast) 86′

Chelsea vs Aston Villa 1-3 Highlights 2011 Goals Drogba penalty Ireland Bent Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Chelsea vs Aston Villa 1-3 Highlights 2011 Goals Drogba penalty Ireland Bent Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Chelsea vs Aston Villa 2011 ( Chelsea v Aston Villa video below) Final score and result:- Chelsea vs Aston Villa 1-3 ( Drogba penalty/ Ireland, Petrov, Bent) Stamford Bridge, London- 31 [.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish celebrated his first league win as a manager at Villa Park as first-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel ensured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Bellamy and Skrtel struck inside the first 15 minutes to seal the Reds' fifth away win in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Goals:
Bellamy 11'
Skrtel 15'
Winning with ease when not on top form is far more fun than frustrating draws or defeats when dominant. Still, if not for converting the first two corners within 15 minutes, Liverpool could well be ruing more missed chances and more effort rebounding off wider-than-normal goal posts.

Marc Albrighton and Stiliyan Petrov produced the vital goals to deliver Villa's first away win of the season, but Ivan Klasnic was able to prevent Brad Guzan earning a clean sheet on his first Premiership start.

It was a much improved performance during the first half, and fans crying out for a 4-4-2 system will be quick to point out that was the case today with Marc Albrighton on the right and Charles N'Zogbia on the left.

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov would swap his current situation with any Liverpool player in order to fulfil his dream of playing for the Reds.
The 32-year-old began his career in his native Bulgaria with CSKA Sofia before being granted a move to Celtic in the summer of 1999.
It was not until 2006 that Petrov finally realized his ambition of playing in the Barclays Premier League, when he move to Villa Park for £6.

They obviously can't be bothered, so neither can I. It was a positive line-up, but Utd never needed to get out of 1st gear. McLeish must be giving out his instructions in Russian or something because he's managed to make some very capable players look like they haven't the first clue what they're doing.

A much improved performance from Villa in a lively game led to a vital three points at home thanks to two goals from Darren Bent, and a goal for the provider of both those goals; man of the match Gabby Agbonlahor. Goals from Anthony Pilkington and Steve Morison bookended the home goals, and set up a nervous final ten minutes.

By Alan Duffy

Sunderland 2-2 Aston Villa Premier League 29th October 2011

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish was left frustrated after watching his side twice throw away a lead, with Sunderland's Stephane Sessegnon ultimately nodding home a late equaliser to give Sunderland a share of the points.

It was so nearly a vital three points for Alex McLeish away from home thanks to goals from Stiliyan Petrov and what should have been a late winner from Richard Dunne to cancel out Conor Wickham's first half leveller.
Unfortunately, the familiar sight of a late goal coming from a set piece returned when 5'7″ Stéphane Sessègnon helped himself to a free header with one minute of normal time left on the clock.

szólj hozzá: S 0-1 AV [Fb.com/1Goals.com]

Stiylan Petrov doesn't score many goals but when he does their usually brilliant, just like this one which gives Aston Villa a 1-0 lead at Sunderland, struck from over 25 yards out.

Need Boots? Check out Soccer.com's Deal of the Day

Not the scoreline we hoped for, but certainly one we feared. Not a great deal to discuss really, we were soundly beaten by a side who are clearly superior in every single position.

Mario Balotelli opened the scoring by leaping on the opportunity to pull a bicycle kick out of his toolbox, scoring from six yards.

Sturridge refrained from celebrating for both of his goals. Chelsea has been having problems getting into their groove this season while Manchester City is surrounded by the maelstorm of the Tevez fiasco. Yet both clubs displayed dominance this weekend, winning by four goal margins away from home. Chelsea defeated Bolton 5-1 while Manchester City broke down a dispirited Blackburn side 4-0.

Wigan Athletic were finally beaten in the league at Villa Park in a comfortable win for the home side thanks to a goal in either half. The first, a brilliant effort from Gabby Agbonlahor, who then turned provider for the second; setting up an unmissable effort for Darren Bent in front of the Holte End.

Up the R's As we all know, Stiliyan Petrov's hands are well known for their miraculous touch. On Sunday, QPR defender Anton Ferdinand felt the benefit of the Saint's healing hands during his regular early season prostate check-up.

By Alan Duffy

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Aston Villa Premier League September 25 2011

Aston Villa came within touching distance of registering a valuable win at Loftus Road before man-mountain Richard Dunne put through his own net in injury-time to level the scores.

Dare I suggest that we can concentrate on the league now? No? Didn't think so. Nevertheless, we are out of the Carling Cup thanks to a 2-0 loss at home to Bolton in what, by all accounts, was an utterly dismal performance.

Chris Eagles picked up on a Marc Albrighton mistake to score a screamer from 20 yards.

Another game, another draw. That's four draws and a win now in the Premier League. Gabby Agbonlahor gave cause for optimism when he opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play during the first half, but Leon Best cancelled that out during a second half the visitors largely controlled.

It's taken him just over a year to score a Premier League goal but Stiliyan Petrov broke his duck today with this spectacular strike against Everton. The game ended 2-2 with this the best of them.

There's no getting away from it, that was a poor performance against an Everton side unable (or unwilling) to field a single recognised striker. We might owe a somewhat sheepish nod in the referee's direction, but Petrov and Gabby somehow managed to cancel out Leon Osman's opener and Leighton Baines' second half penalty to grab a hugely valuable point we barely deserved.

Holy inappropriate Following in the footsteps of the first ever footballer to be canonised, Ian St. John, it appears that the church has decided that Stiliyan Petrov deserves to be sainted. It remains to be seen whether the same honour will be bestowed on all Aston Villa players who played under Gerard Houllier and avoided [.

They won't be smiling tonight... we hope.

Starting Lineups
Bolton Wanderers: Bogdan, Riley, Wheater, Knight, Alonso, Eagles, Petrov, M Davies, Pratley, Tuncay, Blake
Macclesfield Town: Veiga, Tremarco, Kay, Brown, Chalmers, Draper, Sinclair, Diagne, Brisley, Wedgbury, Hewitt

Klasnic has a go at goal. Will we see him strike again today?

Starting Lineups
Bolton Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Eagles, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, K Davies, Klasnic
Manchester City: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Milner, Dzeko, Kolarov, Aguero, Barry, Silva, Y Toure

Ally is not havin' it

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we are actually making bids on real, live players who might consider playing for Bolton. The bad news is that we're getting rejected. Ally McCoist, manager of Glasgow Rangers has confirmed that Bolton made a £400k bid for 20 year old Gregg Wylde.

A game that threatened to spring into life on a couple of occasions but, in the end, failed to deliver.

We may be five weeks into our competative campaign but there was still a buzz surrounding the opening league fixture. The sun was out and a clear run to the ground provided plenty of time for a pre-game beer by the riverside.

Neither side were able to break the deadlock at Craven Cottage in a game that failed to ever spark into life. As the visiting manager, Alex McLeish will rightly be happier with his point, but will have Shay Given to thank for a number of important saves and might be concerned about the lack of any real threat at the opposite end today.

-
-
QPR vs Bolton: - TEAMS
QPR: Kenny, Hill, Derry, Hall, Gabbidon, Taarabt, Dyer, Campbell, Bothroyd, Faurlin, Smith
Subs: Murphy, Orr, Buzsaky, Connolly, Agyemang, Helguson, Ephraim
BOLTON -Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Eagles, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, K Davies, Klasnic
Subs: Bogdan, Alonso, Gardner, M Davies, Blake, Pratley, Wheater

Charles N'Zogbia matched Darren Bent's achievement of scoring on his debut in tonight's final pre-season game in Braga; a 1-1 draw that would probably be given to the home side on points by the judges. If we did such a thing.

Vagner Love's stunt double, Alan, opened the scoring for the home side with a wicked effort from 25 yards that nestled the top corner and left Shay Given no chance.

Reo-Coker not putting a foot wrong

The preseason started and ended with a murmur. Just like the 1-0 loss to FC Tampa Bay right at the beginning, Bolton lost 1-0 to Levante UD at the Reebok. An uninteresting game that saw the only goal come from Iborra after he tapped in a Ruben free kick that banged off the crossbar.

For all the questions regarding the strength in depth of the current Aston Villa squad, there hasn't been a great deal of discussion, so far as I've seen, about the captaincy. In truth, the role of the captain is often overblown, and it has to be said that the other highly paid professional athletes on the pitch shouldn't need any motivation or encouragement from a colleague, but a great leader can still be worth his weight in gold.

With the Wanderers having signed Nigel Reo-Coker, we have another midfielder in our ranks. For those who don't know much about Reo-Coker, here's a bit of background and insight for you.

NRC was brought up in the Wimbledon system where he played from 2002 to January of 2004. He made 58 appearances for the club which included a captaincy roll and 6 goals.

Yes, it's just pre-season. Yes, it's still early days, there's much to be done. Nevertheless, the positive signs continue. The green shoots of recovery are quite possibly poking their heads through the soil.

Darren Bent (who else?) got the only goal of the game in typically oppressive conditions in Hong Kong, but there were encouraging performances all around the pitch.

McLeish's first game in charge ended in a comfortable 3-1 at the Bescot thanks to a brace from Darren Bent and rare goal from Emile Heskey, but it could have been much more with several players going close throughout the game, notably Nathan Delfouneso during a strong second half performance.