On a cold Friday night in Leeds, England, Aston Villa saw their three-match winning streak snapped at Elland Road. A second-half comeback handed Steve Bruce’s side one point after an ineffective first-half. The weekend’s results will determine whether Villa stay put in fourth place, or drop to fifth in the EFL Championship.
All good things must come to an end, or so goes the saying. Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa squad dropped a decent performance in Northern England to begin match-week 20. The draw sees the club drop its first non-win since November 4th after successive victories over QPR, Sunderland, and Ipswich Town.
Villa were the worse club in pretty much every facet from the get-go.
Sloppy passing, so little possession, nothing incisive on the break, defensive mistakes clouded the first-half. Leeds’ Samuel Sáiz, Pablo Hernandez (until his untimely injury exit), and Caleb Ekuban threatened despite a relatively low number of shots on target. The halftime break gave Bruce the opportunity to switch things around, and that he did in the 65th-minute.
Jack Grealish replaced the disappointing Josh Onomah in a double switch that saw the return of Henri Lansbury after an extended injury absence. The pair rejuvenated Villa efforts with Lansbury utilizing a wonderful collection, run, and hit to score the equalizer. His first for Villa in awhile.
Full credit to Aston Villa and Bruce’s changes on getting a point against a really tough away opponent. The choppy affair totaled an incredible 31 fouls in total, 15 on the home side, 16 away.
Villa host Millwall next Saturday at Villa Park on December the 9th. All data provided by WhoScored match center.