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#5 Aston Villa were comfortably in the top 3 in February
Aston Villa started the season immensely, going on a consistent run of positive results. They were spearheaded by a pacy frontline including Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa were flying and had also beaten Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates.
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Martin O'Neill and his side kept on marching as they picked up big points going into the new year. They were comfortably in the top four by then. However, club captain Martin Laursen got injured around the December-January period, putting a dampener on the Villians' so-far impressive season.
In the middle of February, Aston Villa was in third place. They were seven points clear of Arsenal in fifth and just required a similar level of consistency to see it through and make it to the Champions League. But then the collapse happened. After a 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea, Villa went on an astonishing winless run.
They went over months without a single win as they relinquished their Champions League spot. It took the Gunners less than a month to make up the ground and reach fourth. This season will always remain a missed opportunity in the eyes of Villa fans, especially after their eventual downfall in the years to come.
