LONDON // Martin O'Neill must be wishing that Arsene Wenger could have taken his place alongside Sir Alex Ferguson in the directors' box after his Villa side got their Champions League hopes back on track with a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage. O'Neill was fuming with Wenger's comments after the 0-0 draw at Villa Park on Wednesday that his side were a long ball team and was determined to prove him wrong after seeing his side go four games without a victory. On the evidence of this display, Villa were anything but the long-ball merchants and O'Neill was jumping for joy after Gabriel Agbonlahor bagged a brace to help them close the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham to just two points still with a game in hand.
Ferguson was in the crowd to check on new recruit Chris Smalling, playing at the heart of Fulham's defence, but it was Agbonlahor who stole the headlines. There is something about Ferguson which brings out the best in the England striker. Agbonlahor's last league goal came at Old Trafford back in December when he netted the winner. O'Neill can only hope his lucky streak will continue in front of Ferguson when the two sides clash in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley at the end of February. O'Neill said: "I am so pleased with the result and delighted with the team.
"The players can play and our central defenders are as comfortable as anyone with the ball at their feet. The comment [from Wenger] irked me but had I reflected on it, I probably would not have mentioned it. I'm not so sure Fergie will learn any more about us. He knows us inside out. Gabby's performance against Arsenal was fantastic and I learnt from a previous manager that you don't always get your rewards on the day. Those two goals were a result of that."
Ferguson must be wishing he would have stayed at the United team hotel after Smalling produced a poor display as Fulham's season went from bad to worse at Craven Cottage. Ferguson was in the capital preparing for the mouth-watering showdown against title rivals Arsenal today and took the chance to see his new £10 million (Dh58.7m) signing in action. Smalling was starting only his third Premier League game and his inexperience clearly showed as he got caught out for the first goal when Agbonlahor rose above the 20-year old to head home.
Fulham's season is taking a major downward spiral and manager Roy Hodgson has seen his side plagued by injuries, but not even the return of Bobby Zamora could inspire the home side, who slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat. Hodgson is confident that his team can avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight and is tipping Smalling to fulfil his potential and become one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
Hodgson said: "I am concerned but I know we have got players who can help us who are not available at the moment. We have had five bad results but the performances have not been disastrous. "I am disappointed with the manner in which we conceded the goals but we didn't have any luck and had a goal ruled out for offside. "I thought Chris [Smalling] did well but he got moved off the ball for the first goal. I'm certain with experience he would have got to the ball. He has got the quality."
Agbonlahor grabbed his second of the game on the stroke of half-time, curling a superb shot past Mark Schwarzer into the corner of the net. The home side finally had the ball in the back of the net on 76 minutes when substitute David Elm slotted the ball past Brad Friedel but his effort was ruled out for offside. sports@thenational.ae
