Mile’s not smiling
ASTON VILLA defender Mile Jedinak went from hero to zero as his club’s promotion challenge suffered a setback thanks to calamitous defensive work.
The former Crystal Palace player headed Villa into a two- goal lead early in this contest with promotion rivals Sheffield United and t he stage looked set for a joyous occasion.
But it was not long before he was left red-faced with the error that gifted the Blades an equaliser and cost Villa the chance to step up their promotion challenge.
Villa’s bid to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat at Derby the previous weekend began with a gift-wrapped goal in the fourth minute. Blades defender Richard Stearman was caught out by the fleetfooted Keinan Davis and his clumsy challenge in the box resulted in a penalty that Albert Adomah slotted past Simon Moore. Five minutes later Robert Snodgrass curled over a free-kick and Jedinak rose above his marker to nod the ball beyond Moore.
It looked as though Villa were to celebrate Christmas in style but manager Steve Bruce’s face said it all as his side faltered.
Clayton Donaldson t ook maxi mum advantage of leaden and ponderous defending to race on to John Lunds- tram’ s through-ball and expertly lift his shot over Sam Johnstone.
Donaldson level led the scores in the 26th minute when Jedinak found himself at sixes and sevens as he failed to cut out Mark Duffy’s hopeful pass.
Chris Wilder’s side stood firm after the break amid sustained pressure in front of the biggest Villa Park crowd this season. BIRMINGHAM had goal scorer Sam Gallagher sent off midway through the second half, but Sunderland could not press home the advantage.
Lewis Grabban cancelled out Gallagher’s 16th-minute opener five minutes later, but bottom club Birmingham held on for a vital point.
Birmingham boss Steve Cotterill felt his team were hard done by: ‘Sam Gallagher’s two bookings are the softest you will see in your life,’ he said.
Opposite number Chris Coleman added: ‘It was an opportunity missed for us.
‘We showed adversity and courage to fight back, but I expected us to go on and win the match.’