For all their spirit and bravery, Aston Villa could not create the chances to threaten Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal at Wembley

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Martin O’Neill went for two flank players, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, on the wide Wembley pitch. Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew carried their team’s goalscoring hopes and Stilian Petrov and James Milner occupied central midfield. Refusing to succumb to the temptation to play a three-man midfield was a brave move that the manager hoped would give his side a better chance of scoring. He would have been expecting his centre-backs, Richard Dunne and James Collins, to block, mark and cover better than they had in the recent 7-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Crucial to this game would have