by Nicolò Zaniolo headed in Aston Villa’s first goal to rescue a point, with two of the nine minutes of second-half stoppage time to run, yet at the final whistle the atmosphere felt unusually even. The Italian canceled out a smart 87th-minute strike from Cameron Archer, who sold Villa to Sheffield United in the summer, but Unai Emery’s concern was clear not to win here. Villa had won their previous 15 league games at home and if they don’t beat the team who started the day at the bottom of the pile, followed by the chance to move top of the table, their Christmas spirit will be affected.
It was the first time Villa had failed to win a league game at home since mid-February, when Philippe Coutinho was on the scoresheet and Villa were in mid-table; Antonio Conte was still in charge of Tottenham and Brendan Rodgers of Leicester. Chris Wilder, who returned as manager of Sheffield United this month, had not had his ill-fated 11-game spell at Watford at that point.
Related: Aston Villa v Sheffield United: The Premier League – live
A home run may have ended Villa’s winning run but things would have been more damaging had Zaniolo, who came on late on for Leon Bailey, not looked on to Douglas Luiz’s inviting cross. The win would be even trickier given Archer’s back story; he started training with Villa aged eight and they rated him so highly that they inserted a buy-back clause into the £18.5m deal he left under. He took his goal superbly, converting substitute Gustavo Hamer’s goal from the edge of the six-yard box. Wilder went for a bottle of Lucozade and Emery, went back into his seat, seethed.
Bailey saw a second-half strike disallowed for a foul in the build-up but Villa failed to show the A game their manager warned they would need.
It seemed to suggest that the first line of Emery’s program notes was him reiterating the importance of not giving up. “For us, as professionals, it’s not time to think in records, streaks, top of the table or great future goals at the end of the season,” he said.
Of course, on the face of it, this game was the equivalent of a tap-in, as the team with the best home record in the division this season entertained the teams with the worst away record. Their favorite scorer this campaign? Mr. Goals. No team in five European Leagues conceded more goals than the Blades so it had the hallmarks of a banana skin.
The visitors managed to block them and, from Wilder’s point of view, his players basically succeeded in their plan – until the 98th minute. Villa may have made more than three times as many passes as their opponents but the Blades limited them to three shots on target, one of them in the first half, when Wes Foderingham headed home Moussa Diaby’s first-time effort. Emery’s irritation sometimes gave him the moonlight as a ball boy, running after the ball when it fell close to his technical area. It would be overselling United’s ambitions to suggest that they really wanted to attack.
“We were against a team on a great run that put away better teams than us,” Wilder said. “I will not be ashamed of the plan we had because we must have a structure. To get to 98 minutes [winning], you’re a little disappointed in the end but when my head goes on the headset tonight, I’ll be happy with our efforts and it’s something to work with. Everyone in the world was hoping for a home win. We had to make it difficult and uncomfortable for them. It’s not anti-football: it’s about the opposition breaking us down.”
From time to time the Blades went towards the opposition half but Archer, who had 13 touches in each game, was relentless. No team has avoided relegation from the Premier League with fewer than 10 points at this stage of the season but at least Wilder’s side showed they were willing to get their hands dirty, even if it was a tough watch.
The visitors mustered their first shot on goal after 78 minutes, prompting the away supporters to break into song. “We’ve got a shot,” came the chant as Oliver Norwood headed Emiliano Martínez’s first-time effort from the edge of the box. The goalkeeper looked at his defense with a face like thunder. Two minutes later Ezri Konsa almost headed Jayden Bogle’s cross past his own goalkeeper but it fell over the post.
Archer then managed to reach the spot, giving the Blades hope of a first win of the season, only for Zaniolo to provide the final sting.
The grandstand finish brought back memories of Wilder’s first spell in charge, when his side surrendered a 3-0 Championship lead here four years ago, with goals from Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Andre Green earning a point for the hosts. “My friend, every time we play at Villa Park it seems like a very interesting night, to put it mildly,” he said.
