Aston Villa - Chelsea Spelarbetyg
Här följer betyg från läktaren av Jonathan Fear
Sorenson 8: Unlucky with their goal, got his hand to it, pulled off a couple of fantastic saves to keep us in the game.
Delaney 7: Starting to get forward as effectively as he defends.
Mellberg 7: Solid, didn't let much pass him by.
Johnson 7: Extra point just for showing Hasslebaink out of the way.
Samuel 7: Defended well and a few good touches going forward.
McCann 8: Does the ugly stuff well, got stuck in, a few crunching tackles, nasty boot in the face + having his face pushed into the ground by Sullivan (once a Wimbledon player, always a Wimbledon player it would seem) but made no fuss about it. Got in there with his first goal (?) for Villa.
Whittingham 7: Some good passes and didn't look over awed in the centre.
Barry 7: Got stuck in and looks better on the left, ties in nicely with Samuel.
Hendrie 5: How many times does he have to give the ball away in one game? Did run around, no tackles of note though.
Vassell 5: One good chance that he should have converted, plenty of running (which resulted in his injury, having run up the wing towards the Holte, he felt the back of his thigh). Short on confidence. Lets hope he gets a goal from somewhere, maybe he would get his belief back then.
Angel 10: World class. Goal out of nothing, instrumental in the second goal, ran over every inch of the pitch, got stuck in. Hope Roman wasn't looking.
Stefan Moore 7: (for Vassell 52) Some excellent touches and gave their defence something new to think about.
Crouch 8: (for Angel 83) Storming return, great touches, put himself about nicely. Got into the pace of the game very quickly.
Hitzlsperger 6: (for Hendrie 69) Didn't notice too much.
Ref: Neil Barry 4: Truly woeful.
Apologies Due: To the linesman. We all thought Joe Cole's goal was offside and let him know. I may have asked if he spoke in Russian, I may have called him Vladimir, I may have asked how much Roman pays. I may have been wrong!!!
DOL and Roy Aitkin. 9: Got the team up for it and made sure they remained up for it. What does worry me is that Vassell had to be told several times to put himself about. Nice to see DOL smiling at the end of the game. Surely this cup run may make his case a bit stronger for some funds?
Reward: Semi against Bolton. To be played weeks beginning 19th away and 26th Jan home.
Villa fans 8: Although nearly 13 000 down on capacity the crowd warmed to the teams performance. Still drives me mad how much time they spend singing about Blues, but the atmosphere built as the game went on.
Chelsea fans 5: Glory hunters or head hunters, not sure!
My ratings defined: 1) Totally awful, had a mare, should be taken out and shot, 2) Awful, but not usual standard, 3) Very poor, needs to improve or be dropped, 4) Poor, below the standard expected, 5) Average, the least expected, 6) Better than average, but in patches only, 7) Good, generally decent performance, 8) Very good, above the standard, standing out at times, 9) Excellent, stood out all match, 10) Outstanding (aka Paul McGrath!). Truly commanded the match, stunning.
Jonathan Fear
