With a 100 odd day lull in the Premier League fixture list, Aston Villa finally got back onto the pitch earlier tonight as we welcomed Sheffield United to Villa Park for the long-awaited restart of the 2019/20 calendar.
There’s no denying it was a little bit strange, but rather predictably we had the weather for it in the build-up.
That wasn’t the only storm to come from the game, a technology failure from the Video Assistant Referee system failed to award us two penalties (one nailed on, the other arguable) and the VAR bods were similarly flummoxed on Sheffield United’s clear goal. Although in that case, we did learn that the Hawkeye system is capable of being beaten by a mischievously placed goalkeeper – who are often found on the goalline.
With the ‘eyes of the world’ watching, I think most people would agree the consensus was ‘what the hell did we just watch’.
Two points dropped, more positives than negatives – but the negatives have long been known and we seem incapable of fixing them – but the game in hand has gone and we only got a point, when we deserved far more on the balance of the game.
Speaking to the Sky Sports following the end of the 90 minutes, head coach Dean Smith was left disappointed.
“We deserved a victory tonight. I know they’ve scored a goal that isn’t given because of technology, but we did enough to score tonight. I feel for them, but I’ve had technology go against me, and we’re probably due that little bit of luck.”
A point is a point as they say.
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