Aston Manor 
Football Academy Match Report – Aston Villa v Swindon Town
Sixth Form Football Academy Match Report – 05/02/20 Vs Swindon Town Away
An early start for the Aston Villa Football Academy, with an away trip to Swindon Town, second verses third set this game up to be a very competitive one, with both teams having a lot to play for. Aston Villa had a lot to prove after a 6-1 loss to the same team on the reverse fixture, during the warm up you could see the squad were pumped up for this one.
The game started with Swindon dominating possession, Aston Villa were deep in their own half for the first 15 minutes, but were absorbing the pressure well and keeping all attempts by Swindon to outside the box until the 17 minute, when Swindon hit the target to go one nil up.
Swindon were posing a big threat going forward, having a big, strong back three that won the ball in aerial situations and hit the long ball up top allowing a break with a strong attacking formation. A quick tactical change, moving left back Daniel up front gave Aston Villa that big target man to match Swindon’s defensive strengths. This had an immediate effect, with the ball going up front and Daniel holding off the defender with great strength. A couple of minutes later, Daniel found the net to equalise and make the score 1-1.
With the tactical change in place, the balance of play was switched to Aston Villa and before half time Villa managed to grab another after lots of pressure on the Swindon goal. Left winger Ebrahim Sawo with a great first-time strike from just inside the box, left no chance for the home goalkeeper.
Half-time – Swindon Town 1 Aston Villa 2
The second half started much like the first half ended with Aston Villa dominating possession and creating lots of goal scoring opportunities. After a big spell of pressure, number 10 Hariz found the net with a nice tap in from 5 yards.
After the goal, Aston Villa seemed to drop back slightly, Swindon Town made a couple of changes, putting three upfront to try and make it difficult for the away team. This paid off for the home team, who grabbed a second goal to make it a nervous end for the Aston Villa team, with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Aston Villa again absorbed the pressure of a very attacking Swindon formation, but like the previous week, the training paid off for Aston Villa and a great counter attack created a goal scoring opportunity for substitute Franco Crean to grab his second goal in two games to make the score 4-2.
Another great day’s work by Aston Villa, second in the league, setting the team up nicely for next weeks (12/02/20) away league fixture against third place Sheffield United FC.
Like this article
