Aston Villa 0 – 0 Sheffield United
So, the first Premier League match following lockdown featured Aston Villa and Sheffield United in front of a packed empty Villa Park. The dug-outs had been marked so that only every third chair could be occupied with the substitutes sitting well spaced in the stands. Watching the match on Sky TV was a surreal experience that could be viewed with or without piped match day noises.
The match started with all players and officials taking the knee for just over 8 seconds in reference to Black Lives Matter. And that was the biggest talking point for most of the first half which was a pretty drab affair.
All that changed however when United were awarded a free-kick from midway inside the Villa half. Norwood floated the ball into the box which Nyland looked to have covered. Then he seemed to fumble the ball after colliding with Davis and appeared to stumble inside the goal.
Miraculously, nothing was given and the keeper was allowed to throw the ball out to continue play. A few United players had a word with referee Michael Oliver, but he just pointed to his wrist and suggested that he’d received nothing from Hawk-eye. Not even VAR intervened, much to the relief of the Villa team.
Tv replays showed however that Nyland had clearly crossed the line but had held the ball close to the post which may have been why Hawk-eye failed to spot it. You can’t say that was the excuse for the referees controlling VAR not to intervene though (not that I’m complaining…).
Half Time: Aston Villa 0 – 0 Sheffield United
Embed from Getty ImagesOnto the second half, where Villa had most of the chances but failed to capitalise on any of them. Sheffield United had their keeper Dean Henderson to thank for some fine saves from Davis and McGinn. But there were some woeful set pieces on display from Villa with 12 corners to Sheffield’s 4 and nothing to show for them.
Villa brought on four substitute in the second half thanks to the new rules after lockdown. But we could have been playing for another hour and I don’t think we would have scored. From a Villa perspective it was probably a fair result. Sheffield might have put the ball in the net, but they needed our help to do that and didn’t provide much threat overall.
Final Score: Aston Villa 0 – 0 Sheffield United
Teams:
Aston Villa: Nyland, Konsa (Elmohamady), Hause, Mings, Targett, Hourihane, Luiz, McGinn (Nakamba), El Ghazi (Trezeguet), Davis (Samatta), Grealish
Sheffield United: Henderson, Basham, Egan, Robinson, Baldock, Berge (Freeman), Norwood, Lundstram, Stevens, McBurnie (Mousset), Sharp (McGoldrick)