Nicolò Zaniolo made a significant impact coming off the bench, scoring his inaugural Premier League goal to secure a late equalizer against Sheffield United at Villa Park on Friday night.
In the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, the Italian skillfully headed home Douglas Luiz’s cross, extending Aston Villa’s unbeaten streak to ten games. Throughout the match, the Blades adopted a defensive strategy, creating an attack versus defense dynamic, and challenging the hosts to break them down.
Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins, and Moussa Diaby had missed opportunities in the first half, and the breakthrough moment seemed to arrive on the 59th minute when Leon Bailey turned in Watkins’ cross in front of the Holte End. However, VAR ruled it out for a foul in the build-up, causing frustration for the home side.
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As stoppage time loomed, former Villan Cameron Archer struck with a goal, putting an end to Villa’s impressive run of 15 consecutive home league wins. Clement Lenglet made his debut in the Premier League for the club, one of four changes from the previous victory at Brentford, alongside Lucas Digne, Luiz, and Bailey in the starting XI.
Sheffield United, having earned just one point from their eight away matches this season, adopted a defensive 5-4-1 formation with the intention of frustrating the home side. Goal-scoring opportunities were limited in the early stages, with Villa patiently trying to dissect their opponents before Bailey, in good form, provided a pass to Diaby, whose shot was met with an excellent one-handed save by Wes Foderingham.