Aston Villa – Sheffield United 1-1:
Aston Villa had a golden opportunity to top the Premier League table for the first time since 1999 on Friday evening.
Bottom side Sheffield United were visiting Villa Park, but under Chris Wilder, the Sheffield club had raised themselves several notches.
Thus the task became much more difficult than the newspaper might suggest to Unai Emery and his distinguished men.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net before half-time, but after the break there was more excitement for Birmingham.
– Emery is cursed
The hosts thought they had taken the lead when Leon Bailey put the ball into the net from close range in the 59th minute. After some fumbling inside the penalty area, the ball reached Ollie Watkins, who sent a cross to Bailey, who could have easily scored.
However, Sheffield United goalkeeper Wes Fodringham was furious and believed he had been fouled before goal. VAR took a closer look at the images and finally concluded that this was the behavior of the cage keeper in the situation before the goal.
– Unai Emery is really angry right now, says Viaplay commentator Andreas Tufte.
After the canceled result, the visitors saw the opportunity to snatch all the points and caused a lot of trouble for the home team. However, a good performance from Emiliano Martinez and some margins in crucial moments meant the hosts escaped fear.
– Christmas shock at Villa Park
Five minutes before the end, Sheffield United succeeded in achieving victory. Former Aston Villa player Cameron Archer positioned himself correctly on the pitch and was in place after excellent preparation by Gustavo Hammer. Thus he was able to push into the main goal.
– There's a Christmas shocker at Villa Park, exclaimed Viaplay commentator Toft when the scoring was real.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher says he felt a goal in the air.
Unai Emery said: “I can't believe this is true, but you can feel something is going to happen in the last ten minutes.”
However, nine minutes of extra time were scheduled to be played, and on the eve of the match the home team responded immediately.
Italian Nicolo Zaniolo was the man who saved the point for the hosts, but with a brilliant header in the final minutes.
Thus, Aston Villa rises to second place in the English Premier League with 39 points from 18 matches. The same number of points as league leaders Arsenal. They will be playing several teams around them on the schedule this weekend, so position could change quickly.
Sheffield United now occupies nineteenth place in the Premier League, having woken up from a disastrous start to the season.
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