Aston Villa miss chance to move atop Premier League after being held by Sheffield United
In a match that carried the exact sort of entertainment you want from a pre-Christmas fixture, Aston Villa dropped two points in their bid for the Premier League title after a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Sheffield United.
It was a home fixture that the Midlands club were expected to come through with ease, preparing for their Boxing Day trip to Old Trafford, yet the hosts could be accused of taking the Blades lightly on Friday evening.
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The match began at a frenetic pace with Villa having a penalty shout within the first 10 minutes. A melee in the box saw an appeal from the hosts which was turned down by Anthony Taylor.
He was then advised to lo8ok at the situation on the VAR monitors, however rather unusually he stuck to his original decision of no penalty, much to the fury of Villa’s players.
Villa then had their best chance of the game, forcing goalkeeper Wes Foderingham into action. The one-time friend of Paolo Di Canio made an acrobatic save diving low to his right to tip the ball wide after Moussa Diaby struck the ball goalwards.
Half-time came with the shots on target tally sitting at 1-0 in favor of Aston Villa, with the midfield of both teams having much of the ball.
Sheffield United stunned the hosts in the second-half
Whilst golden chances weren’t coming at a premium for Villa, there was a sense that a goal would come eventually.
They were in control of the ball and actually playing rather well, and they thought that elusive goal had finally arrived on the hour mark.
Ollie Watkins played a smart cut-back across the face of goal to Leon Bailey, with the Jamaican international powering the ball home into the roof of the net.
However, VAR was once again involved as Anthony Taylor reviewed the build-up to the goal on the monitor, eventually deciding that a foul had occurred against a Sheffield United defender, forcing him to disallow Villa’s goal.
A handball shout was then rejected by the official with 15 minutes left to play, even though Taylor once again was instructed to look at the monitor.
It seemed like thus frustration from repeated refereeing decisions brought about a degree of complacency within Villa’s ranks.
They lost their discipline defensively and were undone by a surprisingly impressive Sheffield United move. Cameron Archer got on the end of a perfect pass and fired a shot beyond the Villa goalkeeper, who had been forced into very little action all night.
Sheffield United were mere minutes away from taking an important victory away from Villa Park when Nicolo Zaniolo scored an equalizer in the seventh minute of injury-time.
Douglas Luiz’s cushioned pass found the Italian in the box and his header flew into the back of the net.