West Midlands Football Review: Vale lead the way in difficult weekend

Another weekend of football has gone by for West Midlands teams, but they were unable to replicate the successes of last week.

There were just two league wins for clubs in the region, coming in League One and Two, with no less than five defeats across the various leagues.

In the Premier League, Aston Villa did secure their spot in the Conference League groups with an 8-0 aggregate win over Hibs, but they came crashing back down to earth with a heavy defeat away to Liverpool in the league. Hungarian star Dominik Szoboszlai got the scoring started early before a Mo Salah strike and an unfortunate Matty Cash own goal condemned Villa to defeat.

Wolves also slipped to defeat, though theirs was a much narrower defeat to Crystal Palace. An Odsonne Edouard brace and a strike from Eberechi Eze were enough to cancel out goals from Hwang Hee-chan and a late Matheus Cunha goal.

Moving into the Championship, Birmingham City continued their unbeaten start to the season with a draw with Millwall. Jay Stansfield scored for the second consecutive game to secure a good point for Blues as they cemented their place in the top four.

Coventry City also drew, this time at home to Watford. It was an enthralling game at the CBS Arena, with Coventry having to come from behind three times to get the point. Milan van Ewijk netted his first Coventry goal to draw level for the first time before being aided by a Wesley Hoedt own goal for their second. After a thrilling contest, Matt Godden bagged a late equaliser to sink Hornets hearts.

Stoke City continued their iffy run of recent form by losing to surprise league leaders Preston North End. Will Keane scored twice in six minutes to secure the win for Preston, despite Stoke having 70% possession and ten more shots than the visitors, though only one of those shots were on target.

West Brom slipped to a surprise defeat on Saturday, falling to relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town. John Swift had scored to cancel out Delano Burgzorg’s opener, but former Wimbledon star Jack Rudoni scored a last-gasp winner to send Neil Warnock’s side home with all three points.

In League One, Port Vale continued their charge up the league by beating ten-man Oxford away from home. Alex Iacovitti opened the scoring late in the second half but looked for all the world like the game was going to end in a draw after Greg Leigh scored in the 93rd minute. However, up stepped starlet Alfie Devine, who recently arrived on loan from Tottenham, to bag a 99th-minute winner from the penalty spot to send Vale supported into raptures.

As for their divisional rivals Shrewsbury Town, they were unable to repeat Vale’s heroics as they fell to defeat away to Carlisle United. An own goal from Tom Bayliss opened the scoring in the second half before a late strike from Joe Garner rubbed salt into the wounds.

Finally, Walsall secured their second win and first clean sheet of the season with a narrow win over Colchester United. It was a nervy game for The Saddlers, but a rocket from Isaac Hutchinson secured a hugely important win for Mat Sadler’s team.

Tables

With their defeat in Liverpool, Villa have slipped down to 10th in the table, behind Nottingham Forest and Brentford on goal difference. Wolves, meanwhile, sit in 15th after their important win over Everton last week.

In the Championship, Birmingham are sitting pretty in fourth place, one point ahead of Norwich, Hull, and Southampton directly below them. West Brom are currently in 11th, with Coventry and Stoke falling into the bottom half of the table in 14th and 16th respectively.

As with Birmingham in the Championship, Port Vale are also sat fourth in League One. They are level on points with top-placed Exeter, but they have a considerably worse goal difference. Shrewsbury Town are now in 14th after three wins and three defeats in their first six games.

Walsall also sit in 14th in League Two. The Saddlers have won two, lost two, and drawn two of their opening six fixtures.