West Bromwich Albion’s Craig Gardner punishes former club Aston Villa
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Version 0 of 1. Alan Irvine will think twice about offering Craig Gardner a high five the next time his midfielder scores but the West Bromwich Albion manager was only too happy to feel the sting as the former Aston Villa player’s first goal for his latest Midlands club settled this derby to alleviate the pressure hovering over the Hawthorns hot seat. Gardner rifled home the winner 18 minutes from time as West Brom made heavy weather of capitalising on playing with a numerical advantage for three quarters of the game after Kieran Richardson was sent off for a reckless tackle on Stéphane Sessègnon. The former Birmingham City player responded to his goal by sprinting over to the touchline to slap hands with Irvine, whose position has come under scrutiny after a run of one point from five games, and has said how much the team have been behind the manager. “The players have been brilliant, they really have,” Irvine said. “I’m absolutely delighted with the way they go about their business on a day-to-day basis. It’s nice of Craig to say that, but I wouldn’t have minded who he went and celebrated with. “My hand is still stinging, so I might ask him to go somewhere else next time! But he’s been a great pro since the first day he came in. He’s been absolutely desperate to score – and you could see how much it meant for him to score today.” He acknowledged the player is a Birmingham City fan. “So I understand, but I think he’s a West Brom fan at this particular moment.” The future of both managers had been the subject of debate this autumn after mundane starts to the season but successive wins for Aston Villa had given Paul Lambert some breathing space. Now Irvine can sleep a bit more easily after a first victory in six attempts. Gardner’s breakthrough came after Irvine made an astute tactical change, bringing Saido Berahino off the bench onto the right wing, with Sessègnon moving back into the hole off Ideye Brown and Silvestre Varela stretching play on the left wing. This served to unsettle Villa, who had defended very well, and within two minutes of the change came the goal. Berahino crossed from the right and Brad Guzan failed to make clean contact as he attempted to punch clear under pressure from Ideye. Sessègnon’s effort was blocked and Gardner slashed home the rebound to spark rare celebrations around the Hawthorns. After witnessing defeats in their last three home games, the Albion crowd did stay with the team and the manager throughout. Gardner was renowned as a goalscoring midfielder in his days at Villa Park under Martin O’Neill and at Birmingham City, his boyhood club, but this timely maiden goal could prove hugely significant as West Brom seek some managerial stability a year to the weekend since dismissing Steve Clarke, leading to the ill-fated reign of Pepe Mel before Irvine’s appointment in the summer. Christian Benteke diverted one attempt narrowly past the far post and then sliced another clearer opening past the target in the dying minutes as Villa attempted to make it six league games unbeaten for the first time under Lambert. But West Brom deservedly hung on. Lambert had no complaints, over either Richardson’s red card or his team’s performance. “I can see why the referee sent him off,” the Villa manager said. “His second touch, he over-hit, but in the modern game, if you raise your studs, the referee will give a card. His enthusiasm to get the ball back probably got him sent off. “I thought we were the better team at that stage. It’s a big compliment to the team because for 70 minutes you wouldn’t have known we were down to 10 men. There’s a way to lose in football. I’m disappointed to lose but not disappointed with the way we played.” Albion were much better at keeping the ball but had only one other clearcut chance before the interval, Sessègnon side-footed shot saved superbly by Guzan at point-blank range after Sébastien Pocognoli’s pull-back. But they cranked up the pressure in the second half and deserved their win. |