Aston Villa 5 LCFC Women 0: Eat, sleep, miss chances, repeat
It was perhaps fitting that Leicester graced Women’s Football Weekend with a vintage 2022/23 performance. Missing chances left and right, then watching in horror as shots flew into their own net from all angles.
In the cold light of day, the 5-0 final scoreline was as much a reflection of the fact Aston Villa are 5th, closer to the Big Four than the rest, than a damning indictment of the Foxes. Their opponents knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup last weekend. A WSL Cup defeat to Arsenal is Villa’s only reverse since the winter break.
Even so, this was another game where Leicester created their own problems by missing too many chances early, then gave up any hope of a comeback with basic, avoidable errors.
We won the passing
For much of the game, Leicester looked a solid, competitive side. They had more possession, more passes, and more shots. In the first half in particular they pressed high, forced turnovers, and created chances. That goes on the positive side of the ledger. On the other hand: they went in at the break 3-0 down.
‘If only we took our chances!’ is the rallying cry you turn to when you have nothing else to lean on, but rarely can a side have been crying out for a finisher more than this Leicester team. The pretty build-up play hangs out there, forever unfulfilled.
Prior to this game, Leicester had had more shots than West Ham, and scored 10 fewer goals. They’ve had the same number of shots from open play as Reading and scored half as many.
One of the issues is that an extraordinarily high percentage of chances seem to fall to defensive players. And behold, so it was again at Villa Park. Inside five minutes Sam Tierney failed to find the net from almost underneath the crossbar. The rebound was disallowed for an offside, a curious outcome given there were numerous Villa players on the line. The hosts ran up the other end and took the lead. Kenza Dali’s deflected shot nestling into the far corner.
Leicester responded well to going behind. The January signings have given the team more options and more tactical flexibility, which was on display here. Ruby Mace’s ability to drop into a back three when Leicester had the ball freed up both full backs to push right forward, while also allowing Ashleigh Plumptre to make some marauding runs out from defence.
Twice CJ Bott found space in the penalty area on the overlap, only to fail to really trouble Hannah Hampton with her shot. Hannah Cain had a great chance blocked. Then, mid-way through the first half, yet another chance fell to one of the back four. Plumptre surged forward, committing defenders, and creating space for Courtney Nevin on the left. Nevin squared a return ball back to Plumptre in the box, only for her to turn back into a pumpkin and hit a tame shot straight at Hampton.
Alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Once again Villa broke forward, Kirsty Hanson crossing for Alisha Lehmann, who still had a lot to do, stretching for the ball on the half-volley. Naturally, she buried it in the bottom corner to double Villa’s lead.
Mistakes, we’ve made a few
Willie Kirk held up the shot and possession stats as a victory of sorts in the post-match interview, but ultimately the team has to look themselves in the mirror. Once again, there were too many avoidable mistakes around both boxes that cost them.
Again and again, Leicester did the hard work then overhit a simple pass or took a low percentage shot when there were teammates in better positions. Twice Carrie Jones twinkled into the Villa box, only to drill a shot against the defender’s legs. Both Bott and Nevin were guilty of putting crosses straight out of play from good positions. After half an hour, Leicester really should have been level, if not ahead.
But that’s not the way the cookie crumbles down on Filbert Way this season. Immediately after Lehmann’s goal, Dali bundled through the Leicester defence and blazed a golden chance over the bar. On the brink of half time, Sophie Howard’s touch got away from her and suddenly Rachel Daly was bearing down on goal. A fairly positive performance lurched towards disaster territory.
Pressing matters
In truth, the contest was over at that point. Kirk has displayed a pragmatic attitude to meetings with the top four all season, but here he got caught in the classic trap of playing the name and not the game. Instead of taking their medicine after the break, Leicester naively kept pushing forward, leaving huge gaps at the back for Villa to exploit.
Leicester probably ‘won’ the midfield battle. They did well to press high and win the ball back or force errors out of Jordan Nobbs, Lucy Staniforth, and Dali. But Villa only had to beat the press once or twice to carve Leicester open, while Leicester couldn’t make any of their own turnovers count.
The fourth goal came from one of those rapid, sweeping breaks that came once Villa got past the initial press. freeing Alisha Lehmann down the right, who played a great final ball across for Daly to tap in. Immediately after, another counter saw Dali denied by Leitzig, before the midfielder followed through, studs up on the Leicester ‘keeper. In the VAR world, she might well have been sent off on review. It will surprise no one to learn Leicester didn’t get a free kick.
The fifth goal followed soon after, in the form of a flowing move of real quality. Daly cut open the defence with a reverse ball to free Maz Pacheco, who squared for Lehmann to tap in. There could have been a sixth late on, Leitzig making a good save from Georgia Mullet’s header. It’s hard to be too critical, given the way Villa have played this year, but in the cold light of day Leicester should have gone into damage limitation mode as soon as the third went in.
Goal difference may well be a deciding factor in the relegation battle, and for Kirk’s team to be hit on the break so much after the game was long gone is disappointing. Anyone can get a stuffing from the title-chasing pack, but to take one here makes it very difficult to claw those goals back, especially given that half of Leicester’s goals this season have come in one game.
Elsewhere in the WSL
Something that did go Leicester’s way on Sunday was Brighton blowing a two-goal lead at Reading. A point apiece in that relegation six-pointer was probably the best outcome, and leaves both teams within striking distance – not, perhaps, if the striker played for Leicester, but at least in theory – even if Brighton have two games in hand.
The Foxes have six games left. The next one is at home to Reading, where a loss would likely be curtains. There are also games with Liverpool, West Ham, and Brighton that register as ‘winnable’ on the schedule, if Leicester can find some way of kicking the ball in the goal over the next few weeks.
If.
