Nicolò Zaniolo nodded in his first Aston Villa goal to save a point two minutes into nine minutes of second-half stoppage time, but the atmosphere still felt uncharacteristically flat at the final whistle. The Italian canceled out a clever 87th-minute strike from Cameron Archer, who was sold by Villa to Sheffield United in the summer, but Unai Emery’s irritation at not getting victory here was clear. Villa had won their previous 15 league games at home and failing to beat a team who started the day on the lowest footing and then missing out on a chance to get to the top of the tree will undoubtedly dampen their Christmas spirits.
This 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 mid-table; Antonio Conte was still in charge of Tottenham and Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers. At this point, Chris Wilder, who returned as manager of Sheffield United this month, had not even experienced his ill-fated 11-game run at Watford.
Relating to: Aston Villa v Sheffield United: Premier League – live
Villa’s winning streak may have ended but things could have been even more damaging had Zaniolo, a late substitute for Leon Bailey, not headed in Douglas Luiz’s inviting cross. The defeat would have been even more frustrating given Archer’s history; He started training with Villa aged eight and they rated him so highly that they included a buy-back clause in the £18.5m deal he left. He made a superb grab for goal, converting substitute Gustavo Hamer’s cut-back from the edge of the six-yard box. While Wilder drank a bottle of Lucozade, Emery was slumped in his chair, seething.
Bailey saw a second-half strike disallowed due to a foul in the build-up but Villa failed to bring the A-game their manager had warned they would need.
The first line of Emery’s program notes apparently included reiterating the importance of not getting carried away. “For us as professionals, it is no longer the time to think about records, winning streaks, top positions or big goals at the end of the season,” he said.
Of course, at first glance this match was tantamount to a throw-in, as the team with the best home record in the league this season was entertaining the team with the worst away record. The top scorer of this campaign? Mr. Own Goals. No team in Europe’s top five leagues has conceded more goals than the Blades and so this team had all the makings of a banana peel.
The visitors were disappointing and from Wilder’s perspective his players had perfected their plan by the 98th minute. Villa may have completed three times as many passes as their opponents but the Blades restricted them to three shots on target; one of which was in the first half when Wes Foderingham turned away Moussa Diaby’s first-time effort. Emery’s temper sometimes led him to moonlight as a ball boy, chasing after the ball when it fell near his technical area. To suggest that United have any real attacking ambition would be to overstate United’s ambitions.
“We were facing a team that had a fantastic run that had outplayed teams better than us,” Wilder said. “I won’t be embarrassed in terms of the plan we have because we need to have structure. To reach 98 minutes [winning], you’re a little disappointed in the end, but when my head hits the pillow tonight, I’ll be pleased with our efforts and it’s something to work on. Everyone in the world was waiting for the home team to win. We had to make it difficult and uncomfortable for them. This is not anti-football; It is up to the opponent to destroy us.”
The Blades occasionally advanced into the opposition half, but Archer, who scored 13 touchdowns throughout the match, was denied serve. At this stage of the season no team has escaped relegation with less than 10 points from the Premier League, but at least here Wilder’s side have shown a willingness to get their hands dirty, even if it has been a difficult process.
The away team took their first shot on goal in the 78th minute and the away fans started singing. The chant of “We shot” rose as Oliver Norwood fired his first shot at Emiliano Martínez from the edge of the penalty area. The goalkeeper looked at his defense with a face like thunder. Two minutes later Ezri Konsa almost cleared Jayden Bogle’s zipping cross over his own goalkeeper but the ball fell just wide of the post.
Archer then shook up the pitch and gave the Blades hope of a first away win of the season, but Zaniolo struck the finishing touch.
The grandstand finish brought back memories of Wilder’s first spell in charge here four years ago, when goals from Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Andre Green delivered a 3-0 title win for the home team. “My dear friend, every night we play at Villa Park looks like a pretty interesting night to say the least,” he said.