1st Half Wales v Moldova Live Text Commentary

1 min - Moldova get us started here

2 min - Free kick to Wales after a foul on Sam Vokes

5 min - Cojacari fires wide from far out

6 min - Penalty shout against Wales. Gunter was hauled down by Dedov, ref gives nothing

9 min - Foul against Wales. Allen trips Dedov. Ginsari to take

10 min - Foul against Moldova. Dedov fouls Allen in defensive half

12 min - Dedov booked after he argues with referee

14 min - Ledley shoots from edge of the box. Saved by Cebanu. Assist from Chris Gunter

16 min - Wayne Hennessey comes out and claims Ginsari's free kick.

17 min - Late Foul by Armas on Gareth Bale. Free kick to Wales 45 yards from goal.

19 min - Taylor drives forward but can't find final ball

20 min - Foul against Sam Vokes as he jumped with keeper to challenge a cross

22 min - Stoppage in play as Moldovian Keeper Cebanu is down recieving treatnment

23 min - Cebanu restarts play with a free kick.

25 min - Cebotaru commits a foul against Joe Allen inside the centre circle.

29 min - Gareth Bale whips a free kick towards the far post but it falls slightly wide of the target

30 min - Sam Vokes is caught offside

33 min - Sam Vokes is penalised for handball inside Moldova's penalty area

35 min - Gareth Bale charges down the right wing but runs the ball out for a goal kick

37 min - Corner to wales. Armas intercepts Gunter's cross

39 min - GOAL FOR WALES - SAM VOKES. Vokes heads home a gareth bale cross. WALES 1-0 MOLDOVA

43 min - Shot from Gareth Bale is pushed behind for a corner kick

44 min - GOAL FOR WALES - JOE ALLEN. Allen fires home after Cebanu pushed the resulting corner into his path. WALES 2-0 MOLDOVA

45 min - There will be a minimum of 3 minutes added time

45+3 min - Taylor fires a shot high over the bar

45 +3 min - HALF TIME - WALES 2-0 MOLDOVA

Relief for Big Sam as Lallana grabs late winner

Reported by Isaac Barrington

England left it very, very late against Slovakia in their opening world cup qualifier, but Lallana managed to gift his new manager 3 points in the 96th minute of the game.

The first half of the game presented hardly any chances on goal, but it was Slovakia who came closest to opening the scoring. The ball fortunately broke for the Slovaks and Svento went diving in at a ball fizzed across the six yard box, but couldn’t connect.

Slovakian captain Martin Skrtel was dismissed by referee Milorad Mazic for a second bookable offence when he caught Harry Kane on the half way line. Skrtel was on extremely thin ice after a first half booking, and a couple more contentious
decisions involving the Liverpool defender.

Adam Lallana (who was one of Big Sam’s team changes from the team that lost to Iceland back in the Euros) gave England a spark they lacked for much of Roy Hodgson’s reign. He struck the post with a splendid second half effort, and forced a fine save from the Slovakian keeper Kozakic between the sticks!

Big Sam introduced Theo Walcott, Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli to the game in a desperate attempt to salvage some hope of victory as time ticked down for England. Walcott had the ball in the back of the net but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside.

Just as it looked like England were going to have to settle for a point, they got their well-deserved goal. Danny Rose drove forward with possession and neatly cut the ball back to Lallana, who made no mistake in slotting the ball past Kozakic.

The full time whistle was blown and Big Sam got off to a perfect start in his new job. Next up for England is Malta who they play in a month’s time.

James Chester Joins Villa

27 year old defender James Chester follows Tommy Elphick, Pierluigi Gollini, Aaron Tshibola and Ross McCormack through the Villa Park doors. Chester joins from local rivals West Brom, for a fee believed to be £7 million (which could rise to £9 million!)

Chester began his playing career with Manchester United, but never made an appearance for their first team. Loan spells at Peterborough, Plymouth and Carlisle led to the Welsh international gaining experience, but his real breakthrough came when he joined Hull City in 2011. He went on to play 156 times for the club, before joining West Brom last Summer. 

Chester is prominently a centre-back, but  has also played left back in his career. Tommy Elphick and Nathan Baker started the first game against Sheffield Wednesday, but Chester will challenge them for a space in the first team.

Ross McCormack Joins Villa

Scottish striker Ross McCormack has signed for Aston Villa from Fulham for a fee in the region of £12 million. The club presented McCormack in claret & blue at about 9:30 a.m. this morning.

McCormack has plenty of experience down in the Championship, but despite never playing in the division higher, he has scored a total of 133 goals in his professional career. McCormack has previously played for Rangers, Doncaster, Motherwell, Cardiff, Leeds and Fulham. He spent the last 2 seasons with Fulham, after his £11 million move from Leeds, and scored a total of 38 goals for them.

McCormack turns 30 this month, but despite his age he seems to be in what many would call the best form of his career! He is only 5'9'' but has scored a fair few headers in his time. He is also known for his dead ball striking.

The new addition was interviewed by AVTV this morning and said he was: "very happy to join". He went on to explain why he chose Villa over his "other couple of options" and said that he can't wait to visit and play at Villa Park. He planned to visit the stadium later that day, and said he "just can't wait to get going now".

He also said that mental strength is extremely important in the Chamionship, as you often have relentless matches and only one day rest. He said that it will take him a few days to get to know the players and work with the fitness coaches, but then he will be all ready and set to go!

Villa v Boro Player Analysis

Gollini - Despite conceding three goals, the italian shot-stopper peformed well and looked comfortable on the ball. He spoke confidently with his defence and communicated well with Elphick. His ball distribution was pitch-perfect and used a range of throws, kicks etc...

Hutton - Didn't really contribute too much to the game. Found a few good positions down the right wing but his crosses and final delivery were poor.

Cissokho - Did everything he needed to do. No mistakes. Linked up well with Grealish once or twice but ended up turning back to use midfield instead of crossing. Definitely did not look out of place defensively however. 

Baker - Looked extremely strong today. Won everything in the air and chipped in with his first ever goal in claret & blue. Wanted the ball to feet a lot and looked comfortable when he had it.

Elphick - Clear leader, made no major mistakes, formed a good partneship with Baker and looked like he could play a key role in Villa's 2016/17 campaign.

Gardner - Didn't do much, kept it simple and cleared any danger that arose in his area. Made one superb slide tackle which certainly inpressed the Villa faithful. Was replaced at half time by Tshibola who had a similiar game.

Westwood - Wasn't in possesion very often. Did a lot of work off the ball and made no mistakes of note. Played his usual game.

Bacuna - Played well actually. Put the cross in for Baker's goal and worked extremely hard down both flanks. Linked up well with Ayew a few times but came to nothing. Played one sloppy pass straight out of play but overall had one of his better matches.  Quick feet inside the opposition penalty area almost teed up Cissoko for a tap-in.

Grealish - Was a creator of a lot of the play but was forced to go back a lot. Faded out towards the end of the game but Di Matteo would have been pleased with his performance.

Ayew - Worked hard and gave 100% as always. Will be a huge part of the new season for Villa. Picked up the ball from deep often and tried to use Bacuna and Grealish as much as possible. He did make some mistakes however, gave the ball away a fair few times but worked hard to try to win it back.

Gestede - Worked hard to chase the ball down, but didn't do too much on the ball. Had his average game once again but to be fair to him, he didn't have too many high balls to attack in the danger area.

Tshibola - Strong player, intercepted a lot of Boro's play and looked to play forward as soon as he got his foot on it. Seems to be quite a Carlos Sanchez type of player (but with much better passing that is!)

Green - Gave us a bright spark, looked sharp on and off the ball. definitely one for the future but could be used as an impact sub this year.

Tshibola Joins Aston Villa

Aston Villa have confirmed the the signing of 21 year old Reading Midfieler Aaron Tshibola. Tshibola (who has previously worked with Steve Clarke) becomes Roberto Di Matteo's 3rd addition and the versatile midfelder has also played at Centre Back previously. As with most transfers nowadays Tshibola has signed for an undisclosed fee, but reports suggest that the figure is around £5 Million. Tshibola began training with his new team-mates on Sunday, and will soon fly back from Austria with the squad and return to Bodymoor Heath. Tshibola completed his first official interview on Monday, and said "it gave him shivers to look through Villa's trophies and medals.

The promising youngster has penned a 4 year deal, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2019-2020 season. Tshibola has made 1 cap for England U18 and that came in 2013. He featured 13 times for Reading's first team from 2013-2016, and a total of 23 times for Hartlepool on loan two seasons ago. Tshibola is quite the opposite of a prolific goalscorer, and has infact never found the net in any of his 36 profesional appearances.

Villa u21 vs West ham u21

Preview

KICK OFF IS 7PM

VILLA PARK

FREE FOR SEASON TICKET HOLDERS

£1 KIDS

£2 ADULTS.

Villa under 21's face West Ham under 21's, with a kick off of 7pm at Villa Park. The hosts are bringing through many young players as they prepare for life in the championship, with Jordan Lyden, Andre Green, Kevin Toner and Keinan Davis all being included in the matchday 18 for the first team a some stage in the season. Both Jack Grealish and Adama Traore have recently returned from injury, and both are set to start tonight. Libor Kozak, however is not mentioned in the matchday 25 man squad. Highly rated West Ham defender Reece Oxford is also expected to start, but he is the only first team player included. Villa can confirm a play-off spot tonight, but the division title is a mile off with Derby leading the way. The top one will go up to the top division, while places 2 to 5 earn a play-off spot in a one-legged semi final and final. The game should be a great watch with West ham also hoping to secure a play-off, they currently lye in fifth place. Kevin McDonald's team will hope to bounce back from their unfortunate defeat to West Brom last week.

Report

A fabulous encounter secured the play-off spot for Villa on a soaking wet night, but West Ham are still hanging on in fifth position. The game produced 5 different goal scorers for five goals, and also a late red card for Villa's Kevin Toner.

Khalid Abdo opened the scoring after Jack Grealish did superbly well to shrug off his man, feeding Davis who un-selfishly slipped the ball across for Abdo, who completed the fabulous move. 1-0!

With 20 minutes played, West Ham pegged the host's back. Marcus Browne's low ball into the box was flicked in by Hendrie and it fell the correct side of the posts for the hammers.

Khalid Abdo had a good opportunity to add to his goals, but couldn't connect strongly enough from the edge of the box.  Adama Traore should have extended the lead, but his two shots were both straight at and easily saved by Spiegel.

Villa continued to pressure but nobody could get the ball in the net. Davis was clean through on goal, however a great sliding challenge from Henry denied him at the vital point. Elsewhere, Browne scuffed his volley on the back post, and a cross was slightly too high for Oxford to reach at full reach. HT 1-1

6 minutes into the second half, Villa restored their advantage. Keinan Davis got the crowd of approximately 1300 people on their feet, as he raced in on goal, but he was denied by an outstretched leg. The ball fell kindly for Davis who was quick to react, pulling it back for Green to smash home into a gaping goal. 2-1!

Villa could have had another just moments after, but Rory Hale failed to hit the target from the edge of the area and West Ham captain Reece Oxford saw his oppourtunity go begging over the bar.

West Ham equalised after Kevin Toner was beaten for pace, and Jahman Hector-Ingram neatly tucked away the opportunity with 77 minutes on the clock. 2-2

 Claims for a penalty against Ex hammers man Oscar Borg on Ford were condfidently turned away by the officials. Borg only joined Villa from West Ham a few weeks ago, and impressed in his debut for the under 18's with two assists, earning him a call-up tonight.

Jack Grealish was forced over with an injury to a standing ovation, and Scholar Kelsey Mooney came on to replace him. Mooney made a sudden impact, charging down the wing and picking out Callum O'Hare in the centre. Speigel denied O'Hard but couldn't do anything about Corey Blackett-Taylor securing the win for Villa in the last few minutes.

Kevin Toner's sliding tackle was deemed worthy of a sending off by the referee, and after some scuffles between players, no futher action was taken regarding red cards. The red card will mean that the Villa man will miss their final game of the season, away to Blackburn, their play-off, and if they make it there, the play-off final.

West Ham pushed everybody forward, but Villa took away the maximum points and walked down the tunnel to a chorus of chants from Villa fans. FT 3-2