Admin error could cost Aston Villa women despite 7-0 win over Sunderland | OneFootball

A glaring administrative error could mean Aston Villa Women will face sanctions which could include expulsion from the Conti-Cup.

Noëlle Maritz joined Aston Villa this month from Arsenal and had already featured in the competition this season for her former club meaning she was cup-tied but was introduced mid-way through the game.

It was the final game of the Group stages as Carla Ward’s side travelled up North to take on Sunderland at the Eppleton Colliery Football Ground. A place in the quarter-final was at stake as both sides could win the group with Villa needing to avoid defeat while the home side needed a win. It has been a successful competition so far this side for Villa with them scoring at least give goal in each of their group games and conceding just one.

There was no real surprise when the teamsheet was announced as Ward made several changes to the team that beat Leicester in the WSL at the weekend. Anna Leat returned between the sticks and Maz Pacheco was named among the starting eleven.

Jordan Nobbs, Ebony Salmon, Simone Magill and young Georgia Mullet were also handed starts.

Sunderland Ladies 0-7 Aston Villa

Villa got off to a strong start against the Championship side as Magill, Alisha Lehmann and Sarah Mayling all had opportunities early on. The early pressure paid off when the visitors took the lead just before the half-hour mark.

Salmon picked out Mayling out wide who was able to cross the ball and picked out Lehmann who headed home to make it 0-1.

Villa almost doubled their lead moments later when the goalscorer became creator as Lehmann picked out Nobbs but her headed effort went just over the bar.

The visitors doubled their lead seven minutes later when Nobbs was able to pick up the ball from Salmon and calmly slotted her effort into the far corner.

Any hopes of a comeback were gone when Villa made it three just before half-time. Villa won a corner after Nobbs’s effort was deflected wide. Pacheco played the resulting corner short to Salmon who picked out captain Rachel Corwise who made it 0-3 to the visitors.

Ward’s side dominated the half with the hosts struggling throughout.

The manager made changes at half-time as Laura Blindkilde-Brown, Lehmann and Corsie were replaced by Adriana Leon, Kenza Dali and Maritz. Anna Patten was handed the captain’s armband for the start of the second half.

Villa started the second half how they ended the first by piling the pressure on the host and pushing them back to defend. It only took 25 seconds of the restart for Dali to play the ball through to Salmon who slotted home making it 0-4 to Villa with no evidence of them slowing down.

Ward looked to the bench again 10 minutes later with Patten being withdrawn for Rachel Daly who has scored 8 goals already in this competition without playing a full match. The vice-captain took over the captaincy for the remainder of the match.

Around the hour mark Villa started getting very complacent and sloppy with their passing, awarding the hosts a lot more time on the ball, and allowing them to push forward more although this didn’t lead to anything as they only registered 2 shots the whole game with Leat easily catching them both. I

n the 75th minute Villa once again registered another goal after Pacheco was fouled by the edge of the box winning a free kick in a promising position. Dali took the free kick playing it short out wide to Salmon who played the ball across the floor finding Magill at the front post who slotted past Borthwick to make it 0-5 with Villa once again managing to score 5 goals in a game in this competition. That makes it 3 assists and 1 goal for Salmon in this match.

Villa made their final change just 5 minutes later with Mayling being withdrawn for a first appearance for young Martha MacPhail. She has featured heavily for the youth teams this season and been included on the bench for a few fixtures with Ward now believing this is the time to give her the opportunity.

Villa had a few more chances with Daly having a shot saved and one over the bar. There were worrying signs when Daly went down in the box after a late challenge seeing her gripping her ankle in a lot of pain with replays showing that the host’s defender slid in studs up on the bottom of Daly’s leg, with the referee deeming this a fair challenge. Thankfully though she was able to continue after treatment and limped off the pitch.

Seven minutes added on as Villa managed to score their sixth goal of the game in the second minute of the added time when Magill crossed the ball in over the head of Daly and onto the foot of the incoming Leon who hit the shot on the volley finding the bottom right-hand corner, scoring the best goal of the evening for the visitors.

Four minutes later in the sixth minute of stoppage time Villa pounced again with Salmon crossing the ball in finding the outstretched foot of the sliding in Natasha Fenton who deflected the ball into her net before the ball fell to Daly. This tops off a disappointing evening for the hosts with an own goal making it 0-7 to the visitors.

It was a positive performance from Villa who showed their quality and strength in depth within their squad against Championship opposition.

It is just a shame that the win and performance have been overshadowed by the administrative error that has led to an FA investigation. As previously mentioned, Villa could be disqualified from the competition, with the best-case scenario seeing Villa forfeit this game, finishing the group as runners-up.

It was a poor oversight for all involved especially after they announced that Freya Gregory couldn’t play as she was cup-tied after featuring for Reading earlier this season.

The ladies next game sees them travel to Leigh Sports Village to face Manchester United. We were unlucky not to get at least a point when we faced United earlier in the season with them scoring a late winner at Villa Park. The game will take place on Sunday 28th January with a noon kick-off.