Player Grades: Aston Villa, Sheffield United fight in crazy, wild draw
By Josh Tonti
It all started out with a flash, but it ended in darkness. Aston Villa drew Sheffield United 2-2 at home after surrendering a two-goal lead in the first-half.
Aston Villa supporters can’t have nice things, especially during the holiday season.
A record crowd at Villa Park enjoyed a 2-0 lead for all of three minutes until the claret and blues self-imploded. Villa opened the scoring through Albert Adomah, who blasted a penalty past Blades’ goalkeeper Simon Moore. Keinan Davis won the spot kick after a rough tackle in the box.
The match got even better as Robert Snodgrass placed a perfectly-weighted set piece onto Mile Jedinak’s head for Villa’s second in the eighth minute. It didn’t last long. Clayton Donaldson scored his first of the evening three minutes after on an inconspicuous long-ball, beating Jedinak for pace.
Jedinak must have been feeling generous, because he gifted United an early Christmas present in the 25th-minute: The equalizer.
Without further ado, player grades below:
GK. Aston Villa. SAM JOHNSTONE. 5.0. Left exposed on Sheffield’s opening 1v1 against Clayton Donaldson. Sam Johnstone held his own, but his distribution continues to be poor and the angle taken on Donaldson’s second leaves a lot to be desired.
Elomhamady rampaged down the right flank in the first-half. The final end product wasn’t always there, but the sheer quantity of crosses created a ton of offence. Pushed up into right midfield for the final fifteen minutes or so before being replaced by Scott Hogan.. RB. Aston Villa. AHMED ELMOHAMADY. 6.0
MILE JEDINAK. 4.0. The Socceroos skipper gets credit for heading in Robert Snodgrass’ dead-ball for Villa’s second. However, Jedinak was beaten for pace on Donaldson’s first and gifted United’s second after a misplaced kick. Not good. Very questionable decision from Steve Bruce to have Jedinak play on his non-preferred left foot to begin the match. Switched to the right before halftime, but reverted in the second.. RCB. Aston Villa
6.0. The better central defender; a typical solid, quiet evening from James Chester. 100% passing clip at halftime. Finished with a 6.89 WhoScored rating, somehow lower than Jedinak’s 7.30 lol.. LCB. Aston Villa. JAMES CHESTER
6.0. Heavily involved on the left flank with some important touches to release both Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah. The Wales international completed over 80% of his passes, but was rather quiet in the second-half.. LB. Aston Villa. NEIL TAYLOR
CDM. Aston Villa. GLENN WHELAN. 4.0. Started <em>really </em>well for Aston Villa. Glenn Whelan looked like a rejuvenated midfielder in the first ten minutes. Reverted back to reactionary midfield play thereafter. Some of it not his fault, however, as the Republic of Ireland veteran was asked to cover way too many runners. Passing needs real improvement.
Aston Villa. CONOR HOURIHANE. 5.5. Solid all-around ground game from Conor Hourihane. The midfielder took four shots, one of which was denied via a blatant uncalled handball. Still, we wish Hourihane dictated matches more often.. CM
5.5. One of Aston Villa’s key cogs in the attack. Snodgrass was in and around all the action. Assisted Villa’s second on Jedinak’s header with an additional two key passes in the first-half. He runs a little hot and cold, however, as his turnovers counted one too many. Taken off for Ritchie De Laet in the 58th-minute.. RM. Aston Villa. ROBERT SNODGRASS
7.0. 92.9% passing, two key passes, and several fouls drawn. All in the first-half. Enough said. Grealish was one of the few threats from open-play for Villa.. CAM. Aston Villa. JACK GREALISH
6.5. Albert Adomah threatened Sheffield United early on with his blistering runs along the left flank. Gets credit for Villa’s opening penalty, in which he blasted the ball beyond Blades’ goalkeeper Simon Moore. Another solid match, but cooled considerably in the second-half.. LM. Aston Villa. ALBERT ADOMAH
KEINAN DAVIS. 6.0. Drew Aston Villa’s opener and never looked back. Keinan Davis still isn’t scoring with regularity (or at all, for that matter), but he is contributing a lot to Villa’s mediocre attack. His efforts are lost on some because the goals are not there.. CF. Aston Villa
All data provided by WhoScored match center.
Aston Villa go again on Boxing Day against Brentford.