Aston Villa came from 3 goals down to earn a remarkable point against high-flying Sheffield United at Villa Park.
For the majority of the match, Villa were completely outplayed by the away side, and there was only 11 minutes on the clock when Billy Sharp’s shot from close range was given thanks to the use of goal-line technology.
The Blades, who knew that they could go top with a win, kept pressurising Villa’s defence, but the home side managed to deal with it and went in at the break with just the one goal deficit.
The second-half started off where the first one left off and United doubled their lead in the 53rd minute, but it was a goal that should never have stood. Not only was Sharp offside in the build-up, but Kalinic clearly had two hands on the ball when the forward kicked it in the net.
Nine minutes later, the game seemed all but over when Sharp headed in his third of the night.
In fact, when Tyrone Mings marked his home debut with a goal in the 82nd minute, many would have chalked it down as a mere consolation. However, when Tammy Abraham, who subsequently became the first Villa player to score 20 league goals since Peter Withe did in 1981, tapped home in the 86th minute, those leaving their seats decided to sit down again.
Villa piled the pressure on in injury time, and the away side’s defence buckled in the 94th minute when Andre Green latched on to a fine McGinn cross and headed home.
Here are our Villa player ratings for last night’s game against Sheffield United:
