The manager of Aston Villa, Paul Lambert, has praised the experienced midfielder Stephen Ireland for his performance against Tranmere Rovers at Villa Park. Lambert said that Ireland was at his best against Tranmere, even going so far as to compare him to Cristiano Ronaldo, and the team is looking for the same kind of performance from him in the further matches as well.
Ireland was not a part of Villa’s first XI against Everton a few days ago. Villa was defeated in that match. But, in the match against Tranmere, Lambert gave Ireland the opportunity to start the match and the Irish midfielder stood up to the expectations of the coach. He performed exquisitely against Tranmere.
Aston Villa defeated Tranmere by 3-0 in the match. The Tranmere players kept struggling in the entire match. The stadium was jam packed and the home team didn’t let the supporters down. It was a thoroughly professional performance by the Villa players. Ireland assisted in the first two goals and was declared man of the match for his brilliant performance.
Fabian Delph took Villa ahead in the match by capitalizing on Ireland’s cross in the 38th minute of the match. That was the only goal to be scored in the first half. In the earlier part of the second half, the Villa players looked a bit rusty, but, they got going after a few minutes. Chris Herd doubled the lead of Villa when he beat the diving Tranmere goal keeper with a well placed shot. Ireland had passed the ball to Herd just near the penalty area and the Australian midfielder latched on the opportunity.
Tranmere got deeper into trouble when Darren Bent scored the third goal for Villa with a powerful shot in the 81st minute of the match. The Tranmere players didn’t manage to find the net even a single time and lost the match. Aston Villa will play its next match against Newcastle United.