Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke ends Blackpool’s FA Cup ambitions

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/04/aston-villa-blackpool-fa-cup-match-report

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Three minutes after the Villa Park faithful decided they had seen enough and started chanting “We want Lambert out” for the first time, up popped Christian Benteke to fire home a winning goal to save their manager from an embarrassing post-match post-mortem.

After being knocked out of the domestic cups by lower-division opponents four times over the past two years, and with this being only Aston Villa’s third win in 17 games, Paul Lambert could scarcely have afforded the ignominy of failing at home to beat Blackpool, nine points from safety at the bottom of the Championship.

So Benteke’s late goal, only the team’s second in six games, alleviates some of the pressure that would have intensified on the Villa manager had they been held here. But a tally of 12 goals from 22 games in all competitions this season reflects the barren feeling around Villa Park these days.

Not that the Villa manager saw any problems. His team enjoyed twice as much possession as Blackpool, who defended doggedly, but managed a sum total of three efforts on target, the same number as their opponents.

Lambert went for gallows humour when the subject of the chants was brought up. “It was my family probably saying that,” he quipped, before adding: “They are entitled to say what they want, no problem. I’ve had it all my career at times but it doesn’t do the lads any good.

“I don’t think it affected us. The players have been great. Don’t get me wrong they’ll be hurt by it. But they enjoy the way they’re playing, especially since we’ve changed the style.

“When you have dominance of the ball, then it’s strange to hear that. It’s different if your backs are against it. I just knew the way we were playing we’d get a chance somewhere.”

After the interval, Benteke, raising himself from his first-half slumbers, chested down a long diagonal pass from Carlos Sánchez before cracking home a memorable goal, making him Villa’s joint-top scorer with three from an injury-disrupted season.

Villa had been so anaemic in the first half that when Sánchez let go with a regulation low drive in the 62nd minute for Joe Lewis to save comfortably, ironic cheers rang around the ground.

“One goal, we only want one goal,” came the chant from the Holte End as Blackpool sat deep, soaked up pressure and left their sole front man to chase the occasional lost cause.

Villa’s bid to start winning games has been based on a return to a possession-based game but, even as they sought greater ingenuity and trickery by introducing Joe Cole and Jack Grealish into an initial 3-4-3 formation, their passing was too laboured to drag defenders about and make spaces to create many chances.

Indeed Blackpool came closer to scoring in the first half, Andrea Orlandi volleying wide from Jamie O’Hara’s corner and the winger’s shot deflecting off Ciaran Clark to force Shay Given into a good save.

Benteke, his movement so lumpen as he seeks full match fitness after his achilles injury, shot into the side-netting in first-half stoppage time when he opted against returning the ball to Grealish. The second half was only marginally better.

The Belgian had a fierce shot on the run tipped on to the post by Joe Lewis before Given palmed Ishmael Miller’s fierce strike over the crossbar as Blackpool scented glory. But then, just as the Holte End started chanting for their manager to go, Benteke arrived to crash home the winner.

Man of the match: Andrea Orlandi (Blackpool)