UEFA CUP FIRST-ROUND
LATEST SCORE:
Litex Lovech 1-1 Aston Villa (1520 BST)
LATER FIXTURES: Uefa Cup draw details ...
Aston Villa progress in Uefa Cup ...
Spain's Villa out of Euro final ...
Saint Wenceslas Vineyards and Villa Richter restored and opened to the public ...
AS Nancy v Motherwell (1800 BST)
Omonia Nicosia v Man City (1800 BST)
Portsmouth v Guimaraes (1800 BST)
Everton v Standard Liege (2005 BST)
Tottenham v Wisla Krakow (2010 BST)
GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times BST)
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By Paul Fletcher
1603: HALF-TIME Litex Lovech 1-1 Aston Villa
1602: GOAL Litex Lovech 1-1 Aston Villa
The Bulgarians waste a golden opportunity to go 2-0 up when Wilfried Niflore rounds Brad Friedel but fires into the side-netting. They live to regret it too as a disastrous mix-up between Litex keeper Uros Golubovic and Cedric Cambon lets in Nigel Reo-Coker to roll the ball into an empty net. Thoroughly undeserved by Villa but will Martin O'Neill care? No.
1600: Gabriel Agbonlahor has been working hard without much joy so far but he at last manages to turn on the ball and run at the home defence. He gets to the byeline too but his cross is pretty disappointing to be honest.
1557: One of Litex's Brazilian contingent, Wellington, tries his luck with a curling right-footed free-kick from 30 yards out but the ball flies just over Brad Friedel's crossbar.
1554: More danger for Villa but a decent ball in from Mihail Venkov on the left drifts out of play. The problem for the visitors is that, even when they do clear their lines, Gabriel Agbonlahor is on his own up front and the Bulgarians are winning the ball back very quickly.
1552: "Craig Gardner has been very poor so far. He's given it away more than once, got in Luke Young's way, broken down several of our own attacks and is now at fault for us having a goal disallowed!"
jazza0707 on 606
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1550: A better effort on goal this time from the Bulgarians and Brad Friedel has to get down smartly to collect Dudu's low shot. These are worrying times for Martin O'Neill - Villa just not in it at the moment.
1545: More pressure from Litex and they are still having a lot of joy down their left flank - Luke Young is probably the busiest player on the pitch at the moment. But the end result for the home side is a long-range shot from Dzemal Berberovic that is horribly high and wide.
1543: There have been a few texts and 606s talking about Litex Lovech and a song from the 1970s called Lucky Number. I don't really understand what these people are on about.
1542: Gareth Barry heads an 'equaliser' for Villa from James Milner's excellent cross. But the goal is ruled out for offside. Replays show that Barry himself is not offside when the ball comes in but rather Craig Gardner. Harsh.
1540: "Brad Friedel! I may be jumping the gun here (I've been a Villa fan since I was 10 and I am 42 now) but this keeper has been described as one of the most solid performers ever. In my humble opinion, he hasn't really brought any stability to Villa's occasional shaky defence and he's let in quite a few goals already! I hope he lives up to his reputation and eventually come good."
PaulMad7 on 606
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1535: A looping header from Gareth Barry into the six-yard box causes problems but Litex keeper Uros Golubovic manages to punch the ball clear. Villa are finally enjoying some time on the ball.
1532: A Litex player goes down in the box under a heavy challenge and the crowd roars for a penalty. Nothing doing but Villa need to keep possession for a while.
1530: Litex switch play beautifully and Villa need a few minutes to settle down and play their way into the contest.
1527: GOAL Litex Lovech 1-0 Aston Villa
The Bulgarians win a free-kick out wide and Ivelin Popov swings the ball into the box. It eludes the wall and several players looking to head the ball either towards goal or away to safety. Crucially, it also eludes a stationary Brad Friedel.
1523: Popov tries his luck from distance, shooting across goal but wide as Litex continue to push forward.
Villa are looking to break forward quickly and use their width and pace.
1519: Litex play in an extremely modest stadium, the sort where you could probably climb a surrounding hill and watch for free.
The Bulgarians have made a pretty solid start, looking to push forward. Litex have several Brazilians in their side, including Wellington and Dudu.
1515: What? The match has started in Bulgaria, somewhat ahead of schedule.
1514: "I'm worried! I've got Ashley Young in my dream team, when you say the injured John Carew and Ashley Young are absent do you mean AY is injured too."
Sean via text on 81111
Sean, Young has a knee injury, though I have been told that it isn't too serious. As Corporal Jones would have said "don't panic".
1512: "Litex sounds like a brand of tissue. The Uefa Cup could be the cure for your cold. Though I hope Villa give the Bulgarian outfit more than a few headaches."
Carl, Birmingham, via text on 81111
Carl, you really should be writing comedy scripts. Cheered me up, a touch.
1508: "I personally reckon the Uefa Cup is the most entertaining competition of the lot. You get hatfuls of goals, big teams rubbing shoulders with no-hopers, genuine shocks and some brilliant football. Watching Zenit pass their way to glory was much more fun than United's series of tight 1-0s in the Champions League last season. As a Boro fan, I have memories of those 4-3 comebacks and going through against Roma in the Olympic Stadium. I really hope we get into Europe again this season.
"Only trouble for you, Fletch, is that most of the action only starts after the group stages."
SYSTEM-J on 606
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You might call that cold comfort - gedditt?
1455: "I am stuck at work, is the Villa game on or has bad weather ruined everything?"
Scubar2k8 on 606
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Villa have four matches in nine days so maybe they wouldn't have been too bothered if this was postponed. That said, having done all the travelling to get there they might as well play. Anyhow, there has been a lot of rain in Bulgaria but the match does go ahead.
1450: TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa central defender Carlos Cuellar and midfielder James Milner make their full debuts, while Craig Gardner is also in the side. Curtis Davies makes way in defence, while the injured John Carew and Ashley Young are the other absentees.
And yes, that will be Milner's second full debut for the club after joining permanently from Newcastle.
1445 BST: I am absolutely full of a cold, below the weather, runny of nose - and all manner of other related ailments that have so far drawn absolutely no sympathy from my wife.
What could possibly cheer me up? Uefa Cup football, that's what. Hours and hours of it.
Some say the Uefa Cup is very much the second tier of European competition these days but it has not really been a classic week of Champions League football and I'm hoping for some seriously entertaining action today.
Villa at Litex Lovech, Motherwell visting Nancy, cash rich Man City at Omonia Nicosia, Portsmouth entertaining Guimaraes, Everton hosting Standard Liege (remember them Liverpool?) and, finally, Tottenham play Wisla Krakow.
What more could you want?
(BBC)
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