Game #4707
Saturday, 23 March 2002
Attendance: 25,247
Drew
Premier League
7th (+1)
Ipswich Town
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟨
Portman Road
Outplayed by bottom club Ipswich, Villa manage to draw at Portman Road under Graham Taylor to leave them with one win in eight Premier League games since John Gregory's departure.
Ipswich Town
0-0
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
Peter Schmeichel, constantly ranting
RELATED MATCHES
MATCH TIMELINE
🟨 | 44’ Booking, Dion Dublin
🕒 | HT Ipswich Town 0-0 Aston Villa
🟨 | 57’ Booking, Mark Delaney
🔁 | 80’ Sub off, George Boateng, Sub on, Ian Taylor
🕒 | FT Ipswich Town 0-0 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Villa now have one win in six under Graham Taylor as they are held by relegation threatened Ipswich.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96
Ipswich Town
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1980-81
FIXTURE HISTORY
Previous 5 vs. Ipswich: 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 2001-02 |
Matchday | #42 |
League Game | #31 |
Manager Game | #6 |
Saturday, 23 March 2002
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴 | Worksop, 2002-2003
Referee: David Pugh | 🏴 | Wirral, 1996-2004
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟨
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: David Pugh | 🏴 | Wirral, 1996-2004
Previous 5: 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 24 October 2001, Villa 1-0 Charlton, Villa Park.
Cards: 🟨 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Dion Dublin (first start in 11) and Steve Stone (first start in 7) replace Paul Merson and Hassan Kachloul.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.91 |
Oldest Player |
GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 | 38.37 |
Youngest Player |
M Thomas Hitzlsperger | 🇩🇪 | 19.98 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
George Burley | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 |
RB Mark Delaney | 🏴 | 🟨 |
RB Jlloyd Samuel | 🏴 |
LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 |
CB Olof Mellberg | 🇸🇪 |
M Steve Stone | 🏴 |
M Thomas Hitzlsperger | 🇩🇪 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 🔁 |
M Gareth Barry | 🏴 |
F Darius Vassell | 🏴 |
CF Dion Dublin | 🏴 | 🟨 |
Ipswich Town
GK Matteo Sereni | 🇮🇹 |
CB Hermann Hreiðarsson | 🇮🇸 |
CB Mark Venus | 🏴 |
LB Chris Makin | 🏴 | 🔁 |
CB John McGreal | 🏴 |
M Jamie Clapham | 🏴 |
M Matt Holland | 🇮🇪 |
M Jermaine Wright | 🏴 |
CF Marcus Bent | 🏴 |
CF Finidi George | 🇳🇬 | 🔁 |
CF Marcus Stewart | 🏴 | 🔁 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 M Ian Taylor | 🏴 | for M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 80’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | LB Chris Makin | 🏴 | (M Jim Magilton | 🇬🇧 |)
🔁 | CF Finidi George | 🇳🇬 | (CF Alun Armstrong | 🏴 |)
🔁 | CF Marcus Stewart | 🏴 | (M Martijn Reuser | 🇳🇱 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Peter Enckelman | 🇫🇮 |
M Paul Merson | 🏴 |
M Mustapha Hadji | 🇲🇦 |
F Boško Balaban | 🇭🇷 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Andy Marshall | 🏴 |
CF Pablo Counago | 🇪🇸 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 6/11
Homegrown: 4/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 8/16
Homegrown: 4/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 7/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 10/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Not recorded
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Abbreviations:
GK : Goalkeeper
LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back
CB, D : Centre Back, Defender
M, W : Midfielder. Winger
F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
DEBUT APPEARANCES
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE

PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
"We may not have played as well as I would have liked but there can be no accusations thrown at those Villa boys."
Graham Taylor.
*The Guardian*
Sunday, 24 March, 2002
*Trap door draws closer for Ipswich*
Seven games to go and three of their last four fixtures are against Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool - Ipswich Town are back in the relegation zone with not much hope of forcing their way out of it.
They had to win and on paper this looked like being the easiest match of their run-in. They were the better team, but they were held by a stubborn Aston Villa side and have now failed to win in six games.
Villa, with nothing but pride to play for, tried hard enough, but Ipswich’s eager home support and greater need for points gave them a competitive edge, and there was more zip about their play. Their final pass was too often lacking in quality, though, and the Villa defence were not rattled often enough.
Peter Schmeichel’s constant ranting was more likely to unsettle the Villa back four, but when Ipswich did break through the Danish goalkeeper played well enough to justify his tantrums. He made one good diving save to keep out a long-range volley from Finidi George in the 13th minute and then pulled off an outstanding, point-blank block to deny Marcus Bent, before reacting instantly to smother the Ipswich striker’s follow-up attempt.
Dion Dublin was the focus of what little attacking play Villa offered, although he had only a header wide to show for his efforts by half-time. Neither he nor his team-mates really tested Ipswich goalkeeper Matteo Sereni until Darius Vassell burst clear with eight minutes to go and the Italian made an excellent low stop to his right.
Schmeichel, however, had continued to show great reflexes when Marcus Stewart got on the end of a cross by Jermaine Wright with a skilful header on the hour. Each missed chance, coming so infrequently as they did, added to the anxiety of the Ipswich supporters - and the players, too, looked increasingly jittery. But they all thought they had scored with 22 minutes to go when Jim Magilton tried to steer in a Bent drive, only for Schmeichel’s feet to get in the way again. This time the rebound attempt clattered against a post.
A tense finish followed, but that proved to be Ipswich’s best and last chance of the match. George Burley’s team will feel they deserved to win, but they have only themselves to blame for failing to do so.
Indeed, they even might have lost had Sereni not made two superb, fingertip saves in the final minute of time added on at the end.