It was a hard slog but that is the games that big teams win.

Liverpool fell away from home as did Manchester United. Aston Villa had came through their tricky away ties in the past week but there is no room for complacency in the English Premier League.

A game against Stoke City is no guarantee of three points, even with James Beattie looking to be on his way out of the club, although the player did feature, he was even fully clothed at the time!

Stoke should have taken the lead in the first half when they had the ball in the net through Mamady Sidibe although some infringement was spotted by the red. Sometimes it’s the “luck” that the teams at the top of the league get. Stoke were the more dominant team at this time and it was an undoubted let-off for the Villains.

Another bit of luck was the bad luck that saw Emile Heskey troop off injured but even that became good luck for Martin O’Neill as it was his replacement John Carew who broke the deadlock in the second half. Ashley Young provided the assist and the Norwegian striker lifted the tension and provided a relief release for the crowd.

There is no doubt that the expectations at Villa Park are getting higher with each passing week and boss Martin O’Neill will do well to temper the clubs ambition with a bit of reality. This is the season where Villa can push on but they can’t get carried away.

It was a home match versus Stoke last season where the wheels started coming off for Villa so they will be glad to get through this test with the points in the bag.

Third place at the final whistle was the reward but the more tangible benefits can be seen as follows.

Having played the same amount of games, Aston Villa are:

Two points behind Manchester United

Eight points ahead of Liverpool

Merry Christmas Villa fans but can you take it further this season?

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