Kevin McDonald's boost as interim coach took another turn for the worse as Villa came unglued at home against Rapid Wien. It was a bright start by Villa as Ashley Young in a trademark tear down the right crossed beautifully to Agbanlahor who finished in a nice bit of hustle.
Villa's defending so shambolic against Newcastle once again proved its undoing as Habib Beye lost the ball to Veli Kavlak who then danced around him before unleashing a fine cross which Atdhe Nuhiu headed home after fronting Carlos Cuellar.
The Clarets missed a golden chance to go ahead when Stilian Petrov's spot kick in response to a foul on Emile Heskey by Marco Sonnleitner was saved by goalie Raimund Heidl but Heskey following up made a mess of the rebound booting it high over the crossbar. He made amends a short while later deflecting a Beye shot into goal to give Villa a short lived lead.
Brad Guzan's sloppy goalkeeping gifted Wien's next two goals. Sonnleitner was able to get his head on the ball and nod it past a group of Villa defenders to Guzan who was unable to hold onto it and the ball drifted into goal. Three minutes later, Wien were celebrating the winner as they caught Villa on the counterattack which left Guzan stranded as Christopher Trimmell crossed for Gartner to tap home past the sprawled Villa goalie.
Villa were sent packing by Wien two seasons in a row. The loss puts more pressure for Randy Lerner to find a replacement for Martin O'Neill sooner than later. Bob Bradley might be getting a few feelers depending on his talks with Sunil Gulati about his future with the USMNT that were set for today.
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