Point is act of Kod!
SUPERSUB’S RESCUE ACT FOR SLOPPY VILLA
DEAN SMITH blasted his Aston Villa side’s “sloppy” defence after they twice shot themselves in the foot.
Stoke snatched the lead in the second half on two occasions.
The home outfit managed to fight back and repair the damage and were grateful to Jonathan Kodjia.
He first won the penalty that made it 1-1 – then headed in the equaliser that levelled it at 2-2.
But his contributions did not mask Smith’s disappointment with their leaky defence.
Both the Villa full-backs were guilty of gaffes that directly led to goals.
Alan Hutton gave away possession cheaply for Stoke’s first and then Ahmed Elmohamady recklessly conceded a penalty.
Smith praised opponents Stoke for raising their game in rain-lashed conditions – but felt they were gifted their goals too easily.
He said: “The performance was good – but the defending was sloppy. Our decision making wasn’t good. “We are a big draw and that is the best they’ve played. Joe Allen has been pivotal to that. It was a scrappy game. The conditions made it difficult. It was like a summer’s day in Stoke!”
He conceded that on the balance of play, a draw was a fair result.
“I think it was a deserved point for both teams,” he said. “Credit to the lads, Kodjia has come on and won the penalty and scored an equaliser at the end. I think it was a fair result.
“We know we’ve got goals in us but we weren’t creating too many clear-cut chances.”
Villa were missing dangerman Jack Grealish, ruled out with a shin injury, so they would have been pleased to net twice against battling opponents.
This was a duel in the dugouts between two men who cheered on Villa as children.
Smith is openly a boyhood Villa fan while Stoke manager Gary Rowett, a former Birmingham boss, plays down his devotion.
Rowett did not speak to the media after this match, with a club source saying he had “lost his voice”.
Villa midfielder Glenn Whelan was up against his former club in a rare start.
Stoke threatened on the counter in the early stages but goalkeeper Orjan Nyland was alert to stop two good chances.
Nyland denied a low effort from Allen and was then alert to thwart a
James McClean volley. Stoke keeper Jack Butland was called into action midway through the first half, tipping over a Conor Hourihane free-kick.
Smith’s men gradually started to assert themselves as the first half went on without creating enough.
Stoke were sitting back and soaking up the pressure – and did it well up to half-time, going into the interval goalless.
Things got even better for Rowett’s men within 90 seconds of the restart as they broke the deadlock. Hutton was dispossessed on the left flank by McClean, who crossed for Allen.
The Wales midfielder timed his run well and fired into the roof of the net from eight yards.
The home side tried to find a quick response as Butland denied Tammy Abraham and then Anwar El Ghazi in quick succession.
Allen could have struck again when he skied over from another cut-back from McClean.
Smith’s men kept chipping away and the threatening Yannick Bolasie dragged a shot wide after a promising move.
It was becoming a tasty contest – and referee Peter Bankes had to have a word with Rowett to calm him down.
Smith brought on Kodjia to try and inject some cutting edge to their attack – and it changed the game as he soon made a nuisance of himself.
Kodjia’s efforts were rewarded when he won a penalty, being impeded by Erik Pieters with a sloppy challenge.
Abraham took the spot-kick and confidently rolled it in, sending Butland the wrong way, to make it 1-1.
But there was another penalty at the other end just five minutes later.
Elmohamady gave it away, fouling the influential McClean with a poor tackle.
And Benik Afobe tucked the ball away just a couple of minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Kodjia’s big impact continued though when he headed in on the edge of the six-yard box from impressive Bolasie’s cross.
Pieters appeared to be fouled in the process – but the referee played on and allowed Bolasie’s cross to be delivered.
Stoke assistant boss Callum Davidson said: “To twice go in front and not win is disappointing.
“But to come to Villa Park and get a point is still a good effort.”
Villa, who are three points off the top six, host high-flying Leeds on Sunday. Stoke welcome Millwall the previous day.