West Bromwich Draw Aston Villa, Level in Points

 2-2

Two mid-table teams met for the Monday night Premier League match with West Bromwich Albion hosting Aston Villa.  Coming into the match both clubs were even with fifteen points for the season and the goal differential slightly in West Bromwich's favor.

The home side were the better team in the first-half and grabbed a very early lead.  A deep pass from behind midfield by Chris Brunt found Shane Long in the box.  Long brought the ball down perfectly with his first touch before cutting to his left foot for the clean strike (3').  Minutes later Long got another clean shot when Villa defender Leandro Bacuna turned the ball over with a bad pass.  Long read the play and intercepted the pass to score his second early goal (11').

After half-time it was obvious Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert was not satisfied with his offense and made all three substitutions at once before the hour mark.  Agbonlahor, Weimann, and Delph all came into the match and the effect was positive.  Weimann got an assist when he flicked a cross from Bacuna on to Karim El Ahmadi in the box.  El Ahmadi got the final touch to beat the West Brom keeper and give new life to Aston Villa (67').

West Bromwich then conceded the equalizer when defender Goran Popov made a poor clearance out of the box.  His header was short and fell right to Ashley Westwood who stepped into the shot from distance and found the net (76').  West Brom chased the winning goal and took out Popov for striker Anichebe, but the match ended in a draw.

The two clubs share one point and neither make ground on the other.  Next weekend West Bromwich travel to Newcastle and Aston Villa will host Sunderland.