HT: Stoke 0-0 Aston Villa
Published 15:59 13/03/10 By Mirror Football
Champions League-chasing Aston Villa found Stoke's famed resilience at the Britannia Stadium difficult to break down in a goalless first half.
Stiliyan Petrov had the only shot on target in the 27th minute but goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen got down low to his right to make the save.
Stoke full-back Danny Higginbotham returned to the starting line-up for the first time since February 16 as manager Tony Pulis made two changes for the visit of Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League.
Higginbotham's recovery from a back injury meant Andy Wilkinson was dropped to the bench along with Liam Lawrence, with Glen Whelan fit to start after a hamstring problem forced him to miss the midweek draw at Burnley.
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill named the same line-up which beat Reading 4-2 in last weekend's FA Cup quarter-final victory.
Stoke's home form has been key to their season - just as it was in the previous campaign - and Villa found it hard to break down their opponents in the early stages.
The first incident of note came in the 11th minute when Carlos Cuellar was booked for a lunging challenge on Matt Etherington as the winger tried to escape down the left touchline.
Ashley Young's near-post cross forced Higginbotham to concede a corner six minutes later and James Collins' glancing header flew wide of the far post from Stewart Downing's cross.
Etherington then screwed a shot off target from the edge of the penalty area as both sides struggled to create anything resembling a clear-cut chance.
Dunne and James Milner were booked in close succession for fouls on Tuncay Sanli and Rory Delap but on both occasions Stoke failed to threaten the visitors from the free-kicks.
The first shot on target came in the 27th minute when Stiliyan Petrov's low drive from outside the penalty area was saved low to his right by Thomas Sorensen.
Milner then flashed a shot on the turn over the crossbar after Downing threaded a pass down the inside-left channel into the penalty area, with Etherington next to shoot wide from 25 yards for Stoke.
The efforts typified a first half in which neither side gained proper control of the game.
