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Nicolo Zaniolo’s 97th minute header rescued Aston Villa a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United at Villa Park.
Zaniolo headed in a 97th minute equaliser from Douglas Luiz’s deep cross to rescue Villa a point in their bid for a first Premier League title, and extend their unbeaten league run at home to 16 matches.
Ex Villa striker, Cameron Archer had flicked the Blades into a 87th minute lead after he turned Gustavo Hamer’s cutback pass into the left corner.
Villa had been uncharacteristically wasteful until Zaniolo’s header but were unlucky to see Leon Bailey’s goal in the 59th minute ruled out, after Jacob Ramsey had been adjudged to had fouled Wes Foderingham.
Speaking to Sky Sports post-match, Archer praised Foderingham for his performance as he explained: “Wes [Foderingham] did well, he made some good saves. We couldn’t get the three points in the end.”
Foderingham meanwhile was disappointed with the draw after the Blades took a late lead.
“It’s the least we deserve but to come away with one is pretty disappointing. I’m always shouting at the boys to show line and then unfortunately I couldn’t get there.”
Unai Emery’s Villains now sit second in the table whilst Sheffield Utd moved off the foot of the table into 19th position, with Burnley not in action until tomorrow afternoon at Fulham.
Aware that a win would put them top of the table, Villa began on the front foot but struggled to carve out many clear-cut chances in the opening 16 minutes.
Sheffield Utd’s Vinicius Souza however was lucky to not concede a 10th minute penalty after he clattered into Watkins as he cleared Lucas Digne’s header, which led to a Video-Assistant-Referee (VAR) review who agreed with referee – Anthony Taylor that the collision was accidental.
Foderingham then frustrated Villa as he blocked shots from Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, whilst Ezri Konsa nodded over from a 22nd minute corner.
Konsa almost turned provider eight minutes later as he knocked down his header from a corner to the left post, only for Ollie Watkins to smash his left-footed shot over the bar as he connected with the ball mid-bounce.
Villa ultimately struggled to find a breakthrough goal before half time with just one of their six shots converted onto target, against a resiliently organised Sheffield Utd defence who dug deep to keep themselves in the game at the break.
With no changes in tactics or personnl at half-time, Villa began the second half with the same intensity as sen in the first half, yet continued to struggle to breach the Blades’ defence.
Villa’s luck seemingly changed from a 59th minute corner as Ben Slimane cleared the set-piece to George Baldock, but the defender was intercepted by Watkins who played a short one-two move with Ramsey before he teed up Bailey with a cutback pass which was swept into goal.
VAR though had other ideas and adjudged Ramsey to had fouled Foderingham during the initial phase as the ball was swung into the box, which led the goal to be ruled out following a pitchside monitor review.
Sheffield Utd almost punished Villa’s wasteful finishing with a 67th minute counter-attack from the hosts corner, as substitute – Gustvo Hamer intercepted Diaby but the French forward recovered his footing to squeeze Hamer out wide away from goal.
Baldock then got lucky in the 73rd minute as he pounced upon a loose ball in the Blades’ penalty box with the ball seemingly striking his arm, but VAR adjudged the ball to had hit his shoulder instead and awarded no penalty to Villa.
Sheffield Utd continued their late flourish as Max Lowe whipped in a dangerous low cross which Konsa almost deflected into his own net, before ex Villa striker – Cameron Archer saw a shot blocked by Matty Cash whilst Oliver Norwood put the rebound shot over the bar.
Archer eventually put the visitors head in the 87th minute as he flicked Hamer’s cutback pass into the bottom left corner, which marked his third goal since he joined the Blades in late August as the home crowd were stunned into silence.
Sheffield Utd went on to survive six minutes of injury-time until Douglas Luiz whipped in a deep cross from the left, which Zaniolo nodded in to rescue a point for Villa and extend their unbeaten run at home to 16 matches with his first league goal for the club.
In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Sheffield Utd boss – Chris Wilder was “delighted” with the draw as he explained his defensive tactics and praised his players for their resilient spirit.
“We can’t go toe-to-toe with these sides. We’ve worked well on the training ground. There were about a thousand VAR calls tonight. Smash and grab and we go 1-0 and you feel like it’s going to be your night. They’re a together group and they want to give everything to the football club.”
What’s Next?
Villa now head to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in a huge clash on Tusday 26 December at 8pm GMT, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Sheffield Utd meanwhile host fellow promoted club, Luton at Bramall Lane in a must-win game in the fight for Premier League survival on the same date at 3pm.
Teams
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Clement Lenglet, Lucas Digne (Moreno 74′), Leon Bailey (Zaniolo 81′), Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Moussa Diaby (Duran 74′), Ollie Watkins
Substitutes: Diego Carlos, Alex Moreno, Calum Chambers, Nicolo Zaniolo, Jhon Duran, Leandro Dendoncker, Filip Marschall, Tim Iroegbunam, Tommi O’Reilly
Sheffield United: Wes Foderingham, Jayden Bogle, George Baldock, Austin Trusty, Jack Robinson, Yasser Larouci (Lowe 58′), Vinicius Souza, Anis Slimane (McAtee 76′), Oliver Norwood, Cameron Archer (McBurnie 90′), Andre Brooks (Hamer 58′)
Substitutes: Adam Davies, Max Lowe, John Fleck, Gustavo Hamer, Oli McBurnie, Benie Traore, Luke Thomas, Ben Osborn, James McAtee
Referee – Anthony Taylor
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