So, tonight was finally the night when Aston Villa continued their paused 2019/20 Premier League campaign after a 100 odd day lull in the fixture list and we welcomed Chris Wilder’s impressively drilled Sheffield United to an empty Villa Park for the game.
Some had high hopes, others were a bit ‘meh’ and there were plenty who were intrigued at how the PL could further fudge the idea of ‘sporting integrity’ given how different the rules and the build-up to this game had been, when compared to our last kick off against Leicester City back in early March.
So, did we turn up – did form matter in this one – or did we continue from where we left off? The line-up took many by surprise at least.
But it was a bright start from us and we were largely on top, so the break definitely suited us from that perspective. Given the chances we had, we should’ve been one or two clear by the half time break and that’s without counting the shambolic decision to not award us a penalty as El Ghazi was fouled in the box. With that said, given one of their efforts clearly crossed the line as Nyland flapped and that was also ruled out, we couldn’t complain too much.
Second half was a pretty similar story, clearly on top, had the better chances but did nothing with them and United were only a proper threat when we made mistakes or gave the ball away. We could’ve arguably had another penalty as well, but it seems the technology on the night was definitely taking a break and the officials didn’t want to make any decisions with the ‘eyes of the world’ on the game.
It wasn’t fantastic, but another three points go begging and so does our game in hand.
I’m not so sure the water breaks will catch on though.
Unused Villa Substitutes:
Taylor, Baston, Jota, Reina, Vassilev.
Unused Sheff U Substitutes:
Jagielka, K Freeman, Osborn, Clarke, Moore, Rodwell.
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“I Have To Go Back” – Experienced Villa Player Expects To Move On At The End Of The Season
Villa Park
Premier League Version Fudge
17/06/2020 7:00 pm
Referee: Michael Oliver
| Aston Villa | Sheffield United | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nyland | Henderson | ||||||
| Konsa | 76 | Basham | |||||
| Hause | Egan | ||||||
| Mings | Stevens | ||||||
| Targett | Baldock | ||||||
| Hourihane | Berge | 69 | |||||
| Douglas Luiz | Lundstram | ||||||
| McGinn | 76 | Norwood | |||||
| El Ghazi | 71 | Robinson | |||||
| Davis | 69 | McBurnie | 80 | ||||
| Grealish | Sharp | 69 | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Samatta | 69 | L Freeman | 69 | ||||
| Trezeguet | 71 | McGoldrick | 69 | ||||
| Elmohamady | 76 | Mousset | 80 | ||||
| Nakamba | 76 | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 14 | Goal attempts | 5 |
| 6 | On Target | 1 |
| 12 | Corners | 4 |
| 11 | Fouls | 14 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 45 | % | 55 |