Aston Villa took on Reading in a lunchtime WSL fixture on Saturday, at the Banks’ stadium.
Since the opening day win against Leicester City, the rest of Villa’s points have been picked up away from home, which has made for a very unusual and disappointing experience for home fans. Saturday was another opportunity to end this run, whilst Reading were also looking for their first win in six league games.
Carla Ward confirmed earlier this week that Arsenal loanee Anna Patten would miss out due to illness, possibly ruling her out for the remainder of the season. Scotland captain Rachel Corsie took her place at centre back, and Meaghan Seargent returned to the bench from injury.
Villa started the brighter of the two sides, with Gielnik and Petzelberger trying to make the most of a couple of half-chances. Reading’s first opportunity did not come until around ten minutes in, but Hannah Hampton was there to stop the shot and Troelsgaard’s effort from the rebound was blazed over.
Some potentially defining moments in the first half were a shout for handball in Reading’s penalty box, as well as a narrowly wide defensive header from Gemma Evans as Villa almost forced an own goal.
Villa went into half-time having had five shots, but none of them on target. Despite having the majority of possession and playing more attacking football, the ongoing issue of scoring looked to be holding the team back yet again.
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Skipper Remi Allen kickstarted the action of the second half as she was set up by academy graduate Laura Blindkilde, only to lift the shot into the hands of Moloney.
For the next twenty minutes, play was controlled by Villa but without a way through. Neither team looked like scoring until Reading’s Amalie Eikeland was brought down by Maz Pacheco and won a penalty for her team against the run of play. Justine Vanhaevermaet sent Hampton the wrong way and put the visitors 0-1 up.
Villa looked to respond quickly, but not before Deanne Rose began another quick counter-attack and required Blindkilde to make a goal-saving block.
It was Blindkilde again who was picked out by Lehmann down the right wing and whipped in the perfect cross to Ramona Petzelberger at the far post, whose header looped out of reach for Moloney and put Villa level.
Both teams attempted to find the winning goal, but it was the Reading keeper that had the most work to do. Blindkilde and Allen linked up again, but the captain’s quickly taken shot was tipped wide by Moloney. Into injury time, Moloney was there once again for Reading to punch away Emily Gielnik’s final effort from a corner.
The game ended 1-1 and Villa finally picked up a point at home. With Villa having the better chances, it feels as though the win was there for the taking, but most importantly the losing run at home has ended. We have 18 year-old Laura Blindkilde to thank, as she was at the heart of everything, and Ramona Petzelberger who was able to finish the job. We remain 10th in the WSL and look forward to Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.
GEORGIA HOMER | UTV PODCAST
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Georgia Homer – Head of WSL content
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