Aston Villa rounded out their North American tour Saturday with a 3-1 win against the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium. Villa got first-half goals from Ashley Young and John Carew and survived a second-half goal from the Crew's Jason Garey before Luke Moore scored in injury time to cement the win.
The game in Columbus marked the end of Villa's preparatory tour, which included a match with Toronto FC which Villa won 4-2. Team owner Randy Lerner also owns the Cleveland Browns and Villa utilized the Browns training facilities in Berea, Ohio while preparing for their upcoming Barclay's English Premier League season.
Villa coach Martin O'Neill started a squad that could well be the actual starting lineup when the team opens the Premiership against Liverpool on August 11. Nigel Reo-Coker, the club's recent acquisition from West Ham, made his first start for the squad after coming on a substitute against Toronto FC.
With the game only in the eighth minute Aston Villa drew first blood. Midfielder Ashley Young picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, and set off galloping through the middle of the Crew defense. He appeared to look for the pass to spring a teammate, but when the opportunity did not present itself he opted to shoot and bent the ball inside the left post, beating Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer.
Three minutes later Aston Villa doubled their lead when team captain Gareth Barry got loose in the box. Carew played a nifty give-and-go with Barry, who made the most of his opportunity and buried the ball in the back of the net.
The Crew were not without opportunities in the first half, with Alejandro Moreno barely missing an off-balance attempt from close range in the 15th minute. Ned Grabavoy had an opportunity in the 28th when Guillermo Barros Schelotto delivered a ball to his foot on a set piece, but Grabavoy also missed his target, this time wide right.
The second half opened with much of the action happening right in front of Aston Villa goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, as the Crew earned two corner kicks in the first four minutes and forced a few saves out of Taylor.
Both coaches made extensive substitutions at halftime, and one of them very nearly paid off when Kei Kamara of the Crew narrowly missed a goal in the 48th minute. Kamara was alone pressuring the Villa defense, intercepted a pass and pulled the trigger. But his effort drifted high as two Villa defenders were within reach of the striker and forced him to rush the shot.
One of the Columbus substitutes did make his presence felt in the 76th minute. Eddie Gaven ran at the Villa defense and made a spinning move towards goal. Villa defender Craig Gardner separated Gaven from the ball, but it rolled right to Garey, who made the most of it and drew the Crew within one goal.
The Crew didn't settle for a moral victory, though, as they continued to throw people at the Villa goal trying for the equalizer. The run of the play for the final 20 minutes of the game seemed in favor of the Crew, until Moore netted a header off a corner kick in injury time to put the game out of reach.
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
