Aston Villa 5-1 Bolton: Carlos Cuellar Goal Caps Confident Villa Performance

Aston Villa thoroughly deserved the spoils at Villa Park and in reality the damage could have been far worse for struggling Bolton.

The home side, looking to return to winning ways following their mid-week defeat to West Ham at Upton Park, started the game with confident, attacking football. Gabriel Agbonlahor made space for himself on the Villa left and looked to link up with John Carew, but the ball ended up safely in the hands of  Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Finnish goalkeeper was called into action moments later and he produced a fine reaction save from a Carlos Cuellar header following an Ashley Young corner. Villa found themselves with plenty of time on the ball and the inevitable breakthrough was made inside 5 minutes with Ashley Young scoring from close range.

Slack defending from a free-kick almost allowed Bolton right back in it when Kevin Davies found himself in space, but Cuellar scrambled his effort clear. Unperturbed, Villa continued their high tempo approach, with troublesome deliveries from Young and Milner causing concern to the Bolton defensive line. Deep defending from the visitors allowed space for Carew to act as provider for Agbonlahor, but his effort missed the target. Good wing play from Milner provided Villa with another opportunity, Jaaskelainen saving from Carew, who was proving difficult to contain.

The home side deservedly increased their lead when Carew out-muscled ex-Villa defender Cahill and again found Agbonlahor. The England man had enough time to take a touch before this time firing into the net. With Villa coasting towards the break, Bolton unexpectedly hit back. Sloppy defending from Cuellar allowed Cahill to shoot against the post - the rebound falling to substitute Elmander who poked home amongst a slow-to-react Villa defense.

Bolton mustered the first goal attempts of the second half - Taylor shooting at Friedel after a flick on by Davies. Fabrice Muamba was next in line to test the Villa goalkeeper with a 25 yard effort. Jaaskeleinen then parried a Luke Young shot in a more competitive opening to the second half. However, it wasn’t long before Villa struck again. Carew picked up the ball from Milner, weaved past Cahill and Zat Knight before stabbing towards goal, restoring his side’s two goal advantage.

The visitors occasionally threatened from aerial balls, but Villa remained very much the better team. Their deliveries from wide areas again caused Bolton problems - the hard working Steve Sidwell latching onto a cross but heading over the bar. On 70 minutes, Kevin Davies, who has committed more fouls in the Premier League than any other this season, pushed Carew over in the area. The resulting penalty was missed by Milner but he was able to make immediate amends, eventually shooting into the net after the follow up shot by Sidwell that came back off the post.

A splendid Milner was the supplier of Villa’s fifth, crossing for Cuellar who deftly flicked a header past an outstretched Jasskeleinen. Ashley Young almost made it six goals with a free kick in stoppage time, but the Villa faithful had to settle for just the five!  

Adrian Fisk, Goal.com

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