Nicolò Zaniolo nodded in his first Aston Villa goal to rescue a point, with two of the nine minutes of second-half stoppage time to run, but nevertheless at the final whistle the atmosphere felt unusually flat. The Italian cancelled out a smart 87th-minute strike by Cameron Archer, sold by Villa to Sheffield United in the summer, but Unai Emery’s annoyance at not taking victory here was clear. Villa had won their previous 15 league matches at home and failure to beat the team that began the day bottom of the pile, and subsequently pass up the chance to move top of the tree, will doubtless dampen their Christmas spirit.
This was the first time Villa had failed to win a league game at home since mid-February, a time when Philippe Coutinho was on the scoresheet and Villa were mid-table; Antonio Conte was still in charge of Tottenham and Brendan Rodgers of Leicester. At that point Chris Wilder, who returned as Sheffield United manager this month, had not even had his ill-fated 11-game stint at Watford.
Villa’s winning home run may have ended but things would have been more damaging had Zaniolo, who came on late in place of Leon Bailey, not glanced in Douglas Luiz’s inviting cross. Defeat would have been even more galling given Archer’s back story; he began training with Villa aged eight and they rate him so highly that they inserted a buyback clause in the £18.5m deal under which he departed. He took his goal superbly, converting the substitute Gustavo Hamer’s cutback from the edge of the six-yard box. Wilder swigged on a bottle of Lucozade as Emery, sunk back into his seat, seethed.
Bailey saw a second-half strike disallowed for a foul in the buildup but Villa failed to exhibit the A-game their manager warned them they would need.
It seemed pointed that the first line of Emery’s programme notes were him reiterating the importance of not getting carried away. “For us, as professionals, it’s not time to think in records, streaks, top of the table or future great 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 team with the worst away record. Their top scorer this campaign? Mr Own Goals. No team in Europe’s top five leagues has conceded more goals than the Blades and so this had all the hallmarks of a banana skin.
The visitors set up to frustrate and, from Wilder’s perspective, his players essentially perfected his 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 which was in the first half, when Wes Foderingham repelled a first-time effort by Moussa Diaby. Emery’s irritation sometimes led him to moonlight as a ball boy, running after the ball whenever it fell near his technical area. It would be overselling United’s ambitions to suggest they had a genuine desire to attack.
“We were up against a team on a fabulous run that have swatted aside better teams than us,” Wilder said. “I’m not going to be embarrassed in terms of the plan that we had because we have to have a structure. To get to 98 minutes [winning], you’re ultimately a little bit disappointed but when my head goes on the pillow tonight, I’ll be pleased with our efforts and it is something to work with. Everybody in the world expected a home win. We had to make it difficult and uncomfortable for them. It’s not anti-football: it’s up to the opposition to break us down.”
Every now and then the Blades edged towards the opposition half but Archer, who had 13 touches all game, was starved of service. No team has avoided relegation from the Premier League with fewer than 10 points at this stage of the season but at least here Wilder’s side displayed an appetite to get their hands dirty, even if it proved a tough watch.
The visitors mustered their first shot on goal on 78 minutes, prompting the away supporters to launch into song. “We’ve had a shot,” came the chant as Oliver Norwood sent a first-time effort at Emiliano Martínez from the edge of the box. The goalkeeper looked at his defence with a face like thunder. Two minutes later Ezri Konsa almost diverted Jayden Bogle’s zipped cross past his own goalkeeper but it dropped wide of a post.
Then Archer rocked the place, giving the Blades hope of a first away 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 the hosts a point. “Dear me, every time we play at Villa Park it seems to be quite an interesting night, to put it mildly,” he said.
