BLADES STRIKE MCGOLD IN RACE FOR SURVIVAL
Sheff Utd 1 Aston Villa 0
REPORT: SEE PAGE 48
DEAN SMITH insisted Aston Villa threw away three points with this defeat to the top flight’s bottom team.
But Blades manager Chris Wilder said he would do the celebrating for his players after they won with 10 men for the first time in their Premier League history following Phil Jagielka’s dismissal.
“We’ve a big game on Saturday and all the beers they would have drunk, I’ll drink them,” said Wilder after David Mcgoldrick gave the home side only their fourth league victory of the season.
But with Villa chasing a European place, boss Smith (right) admitted: “It’s a setback and frustrating. I felt we were better than Sheffield United and should have won the game quite comfortably.
“We didn’t take our big opportunities and we weren’t good enough. We lacked quality in the final third. We needed to be more patient and we put too many aimless balls into the box in the final 15 minutes. It’s a tough one to take.”
Wilder felt aggrieved to be on the wrong end of a big decision for the third game running against Villa when Jagielka was dismissed for fouling Anwar El Ghazi. He said: “Some of the decisions have been real headscratchers. I thought it was quite harsh.”
After winning without Jack Grealish at Leeds on Saturday, Villa missed his creativity last night.
They played some nice football and John Mcginn and Bertrand Traore missed good chances.
They might have had a penalty when Kean Bryan barged over Ollie Watkins as he ran through.
The Blades showed character and scored on 31 minutes through a goal which was all down to Mcgoldrick’s desire.
He played a fine, diagonal ball to George Baldock on the right and when the wing-back cut inside and crossed to the back post, he was there to score off the underside of the bar for United’s first goal in five hours and 35 minutes of league action. Traore should have levelled and he did the hard bit, weaving his way through the Blades defence Ricky Villa-like, only to waste his fine work by shooting wide.
Villa got closer and Watkins headed against the angle of post and bar from Matt Targett’s cross. Jagielka’s lack of pace against Villa’s quick attack was always a worry for the hosts and it cost them on 57 minutes when he was sent off for denying El Ghazi a goalscoring opportunity.
Referee Rob Jones initially booked Jagielka, but brandished a red card after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor and deciding the former England defender was the last man.
Villa were poor against United’s 10 men and Aaron Ramsdale’s save from Ezri Konsa in the last minute was all they could muster as the Blades dug in brilliantly.
United are 12 points from safety and Mcgoldrick believes their battling display shows they are still fighting.
“We showed massive character,” he said. “We all care for this club and we’re still fighting.”