Here’s an actual link to the actual match report:
Updated
And with that, and Sky having long since turned its attention to a miserably rainy Etihad Stadium, I’ll be off. The action hasn’t stopped, though: Rob Smyth is all over that Manchester City v Arsenal match. Bye!
Paul Doyle has filed his match report from Villa Park:
How heartening after three months of lockdown, death and strife to have something so trivial to argue over as a disallowed goal in a 0-0 draw. Welcome back, Premier League.
Of course the key detail here was not trivial in a football sense and, actually, there is no argument about whether it should have stood: the ball definitely crossed the line, the problem arose because the reputedly infallible goalline technology did not confirm that. Given the strangeness of this match’s context, it was a fittingly odd development. It was also an embarrassment the Premier League should have avoided in possibly its most anticipated fixture of all time.
Much more here:
Updated
In other football news, since this game started Barrow have been promoted to the Football League!
WE. HAVE. DONE. IT. 🏆
— Barrow A.F.C. (@BarrowAFC) June 17, 2020
AFTER 48 LONG YEARS, BARROW AFC ARE BACK IN THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE!! ⬆️#OnOurWay#BarrowsGoingUp pic.twitter.com/LFn2PSGiy0
Final score: Aston Villa 0-0 Sheffield United
90+6 mins: It’s all over! Villa will be disappointed not to win and delighted not to lose. United will be furious not to win but also relieved about not losing. There must be a lot of confused footballers in Birmingham at the moment.
Updated
90+5 mins: United, with one last chance to attack before the final whistle, get down the left, stop, and pass backwards.
90+4 mins: The pleasing sense of potential has become a dispiriting sense of ennui.
90+1 mins: The fourth official has a board of his own! That’s three boards in all. He indicates that there will be four minutes of stoppage time. McGoldrick has fully recovered.
90 mins: McGoldrick, who came on in the 69th minute, tangles with Nakamba after going up for a header, and goes down, punching the turf in pain and/or frustration.
87 mins: I don’t know why Basham and Lundstram insist on endlessly passing the ball around on the right instead of crossing. It is extraordinarily frustrating. I can’t imagine how annoying it is if you’re Ollie McBurnie.
85 mins: The game has become a bit of a mess, to be honest. It’s almost as if none of these players has played a competitive game for several months. Happily, this has brought a pleasing sense of potential. There’s a match-deciding mistake in the air.
84 mins: Mousset manages to muscle his way past a couple of challenges, so decides he should just keep on going and hope for the best. It doesn’t work.
Updated
81 mins: Grealish does well to get into the box, but then tries to dribble past one player too many, and the loose ball doesn’t fall kindly, and Villa eventually lose possession without anyone having a shot.
80 mins: United bring Lys Mousset on for McBurnie.
78 mins: Nyland has looked nervous every time Sheffield United have landed a cross in a dangerous part of the penalty area. Which is only twice, I think, but they really should try it more often.
76 mins: Villa take off McGinn and bring on Makamba, while El Mohamady replaces Konsa.
72 mins: Another stoppage, as a couple of players receive treatment for cramp. Outside Villa Park, the fans assemble:
Updated
71 mins: Then McBurnie heads the corner goalwards, but straight at Nyland!
70 mins: Chance for United! A ropey defensive pass is intercepted, and McBurnie squares to Lundstram, whose effort deflects wide!
Updated
70 mins: Villa take off Davis and brought on Trezeguet and Samatta, taking off El Ghazi and Davis. United take off Sharp and Berge and bring on Freeman and McGoldrick.
68 mins: The teams each has their own digital subs’ board, and are operating it themselves. I’m not sure what the fourth official has to do in this new world.
67 mins: Finally the ball goes out of play, and both managers decide they don’t want to make their substitutions quite yet. A few seconds later it goes out for a Sheffield United goal kick, and here they finally come.
67 mins: At least four substitutions are about to happen.
65 mins: “If Villa believe in fair play, they should let Blades score,” says Joe Pearson. I think they probably do believe in fair play, but not as much as they believe in staying up by any means.
62 mins: After another corner Grealish plays in another cross, and Robinson has a fistful of Mings’s shirt at the far post! Both players end up on the ground, and VAR is unmoved.
Updated
61 mins: On the balance of play Villa deserve to be ahead here. Of course on the balance of number-of-times-the-ball-crosses-the-line they should be behind.
60 mins: Grealish passes from the left to McGinn, who takes a touch and then has a shot from just outside the penalty area. Henderson dives to his left to make another save!
58 mins: Villa come close again! El Ghazi gets down the right and slides in a low cross. Davis throws himself at it, but can’t reach.
57 mins: Sheffield United win a corner, but it’s rubbish from Norwood, and cleared at the near post. The visitors’ crossing has been poor from open play and set pieces. Even their goal/not-goal came from a poorly directed cross.
56 mins: Another corner for Villa, and this one is turned goalwards by Davis, but with very little power and Henderson catches.
54 mins: It is apparently official that the goalline technology was on furlough in the first half.
It wasn’t working 😂
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) June 17, 2020
53 mins: Hause flicks the corner into the side-netting. The fake fans haven’t learned their lesson, and do it again.
52 mins: Chance! Targett lifts the ball into the penalty area, Davis chests it down and slams in a shot, and Henderson saves! That was an excellent stop!
Updated
51 mins: Stevens bursts down the left wing before slamming in a cross, or perhaps a shot, from wide of the penalty area that ripples the side netting. Sky’s fake fans spend about half a second celebrating a goal.
48 mins: Grealish is touched by Sharp and goes down, rolls around for a while in apparent agony, wins a free-kick and then gets up and strolls away, without even a pretend limp.
46 mins: Peeeeep! Villa get the second half started.
Chris Wilder is having a friendly chat with the referee, Michael Oliver, as the players emerge for the second half. Sky are reporting that the referee’s watch did vibrate and flash for a goal ... during the half-time break.
For avoidance of doubt, VAR and goalline technology is, or at least should be, in play. I don’t know why the VAR - Paul Tierney for this match, assisted by Constantine Hatzidakis - couldn’t overrule the goalline technology if it was obviously broken. Things like this just make referees, computers, robots, cameras and British people in general look stupid.
IT’S AN OUTRAGE! I AM OUTRAGED!
Oh football, how we’ve missed you.
Should Sheffield United be ahead here!? 🤯
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 17, 2020
It looked as if #AVFC 'keeper Ørjan Nyland took the ball over his own line but goal-line technology says no goal! ❌ pic.twitter.com/kbSsJajwrF
Half-time: Aston Villa 0-0 Sheffield United
45+3 mins: That’s all for now. United woz robbed.
Wait... i thought this is what VAR was brought in for ?!? Blatantly over the line????
— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) June 17, 2020
45+1 mins: Into the first of two minutes’ stoppage time. Here’s a still of that non-goal:
It’s a goal! How was this missed?! #AVLSHU pic.twitter.com/2Z2ROKlmLF
— Secret Footballer (@TSF) June 17, 2020
45 mins: Nyland caught the ball but then Davis bumped into him and bounced him beyond the line. The entire ball was not just behind the line but behind the post, so absolutely clear to anyone with a decent view.
44 mins: Another replay. That was a goal, no ifs or buts or doubts whatsoever.
43 mins: Sky’s replays suggest that ball did cross the line. That technology was supposed to be infallible.
42 mins: Sharp wins a free-kick on the left, which is curled towards the far post. Nyland backpedals, collects and seems to step over his line, but the referee’s watch doesn’t buzz!
Updated
38 mins: Excellent outrage from the fake fans on Sky as Robinson eases McGinn off the ball inside the Sheffield United penalty area.
Updated
37 mins: Lundstram wasn’t in fact booked for something earlier, which is just as well as he has been booked for something now.
35 mins: Oooh! Villa win a corner, which is curled into the area and reaches Hause, level with the near post. It’s a fantastic chance, but one he clearly didn’t expect to get, so he doesn’t even try to head it and the ball bounces off his chest and wide.
34 mins: “I wonder what would have happened if a couple of Sheffield United players who were kicking off hadn’t joined in with going down on one knee when everyone else did, instead making a run for it towards the Villa goal,” writes David Wall. “After all, the referee had blown the whistle so the game had technically started. It probably would have led to the kind of scenes that happen when someone doesn’t allow a ball to be thrown to the opposition when it’s been kicked out for an injury stoppage. But whose side would the referee take given they wouldn’t have broken any of the rules?” Interesting question. It would of course be abysmal sportsmanship, an insult to all black people and antiracists generally, and generally abysmal. And also funny. Mainly abysmal though. But also funny. A kneeling goalkeeper might just be too much of a temptation for some people.
31 mins: United have been peppering the Aston Villa penalty area with crosses these last five minutes or so. Or, more accurately, they’ve been peppering the sky above the penalty area with crosses, none of them remotely accurate.
28 mins: A few seconds later Douglas Luiz is booked for stopping a Blades break by taking out McBurnie.
Updated
27 mins: El Ghazi goes down on the edge of the area, and all eyes turn to the referee, who is unimpressed. There was some contact from Lundstram, I thought, but clearly not enough.
24 mins: The players are having a water break, drinking from their individual named bottles.
23 mins: A random forward pass towards Davis comes off Basham’s head and goes behind for a freebie bonus corner, from which nothing much happens. “Just like old times,” says Gary Naylor, “whenever Jack Grealish gets the ball, a hush descends on the ground.”
Updated
20 mins: The Blades win their first corner. Egan flicks it on, but over everybody and it exits the penalty area at the other side.
17 mins: Another save! Villa have a free-kick on the right, McGinn heads it goalwards and Henderson makes another straightforward stop. In other news, Villa have released a statement about their support for the Black Lives Matter movement:
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) June 17, 2020
15 mins: Good pressing from Villa, who after United win a free-kick just beyond the halfway line force them back and make life generally awkward until Norwood eventually gives the ball away.
Sheffield United have had their first shot in June for 26,667 days. Not good enough really.
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) June 17, 2020
13 mins: Dean Smith is standing about 10 rows behind the dugouts, with a much better view than normal yet still able to communicate with his players. This is a benefit of fanless football that I hadn’t really considered.
11 mins: Chance! Villa win a corner on the left, which is floated to Hause beyond the far post, who heads back towards Davis on the other side of goal, who heads over under pressure from Berge!
Updated
9 mins: Davis wins a free-kick wide on the left. Villa are the brighter side here, with the debutant in the thick of it.
🎙 - "A powerful image to show football's social conscience."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 17, 2020
Players from both sides take a knee before kick-off to show support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Watch #AVFC v #SUFC live on Sky Sports PL now: https://t.co/hS2ppOif6Y pic.twitter.com/SbGxZenQOU
Updated
7 mins: Chance! No, not a chance! A long ball from defence sends Davis racing through, but an unhelpful bounce means he’s crowded out before taking a shot, and a raised flag means it wouldn’t have counted anyway (STC).
6 mins: Save! The corner is headed out by Berge, headed back in again and falls to Hourihane, who shoots from out to the left of goal. It’s a pretty straightforward save, and Henderson makes it.
5 mins: Villa are first to work their way into their opponents’ box. Davis spins and centres, and Robinson clears for a corner.
3 mins: On one Sky channel the match is being shown with crowd noise, and on another it is being played in full echoey silence. I think I prefer the crowd noise, at least until a random crossfield pass is greeted by a puzzling roar.
1 min: Football! We have had a minute’s silence for the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. Then the players prepare for kick-off and, after the whistle blows, all 22 players and the referee take the knee. After about 20 seconds they stand up again and start playing football.
Updated
The pre-match coin toss is completed. You can hear every word spoken between referee and captains, which is I think a pleasing development. Jack Grealish wins the toss and chooses to kick towards the main home stand in the second ha ... oh.
I tell a lie. The Premier League eventually echoes around an empty stadium while the players line up looking disinterested and unimpressed.
Out come the players! Sheffield United come out first. No handshakes or anthems.
New pre-match preparation: disinfecting the goalposts and corner flags:
"Aston Villa vs Sheffield United - it's the one you've all been waiting for!" #OnlyIn2020 @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 17, 2020
You’d better believe it.
The sprinklers are on at Villa Park, so obviously not enough rain fell.
“As you all get excited, here in Nottingham we are in the midst of massive thunderstorm which has currently taken Sky TV signal down,” complains Bruce Crawford. That’s extremely disappointing. It was raining pretty hard on Chris Wilder earlier, but the bad weather seems to have shifted north from Birmingham now so this match won’t be affected. It is heading towards Manchester, though.
Dean Smith has his pre-match chat:
It’s a big boost to everybody. Twelve weeks ago this looked a very long way away. We’ve been itching to get out there. Speaking to Chris, his lads are itching to get out there as well. I think the fact that you’ll hear everything [will be most strange]. There’s got to be some self-drive out there today, because you lose that little bit of adrenaline the crowd can give you.
On the selection of Keinan Davis, the 22-year-old striker who makes his full Premier League debut today:
We’ve had a mini pre-season just like everybody else and I wanted to reward the players that have looked the brightest and the fittest. When the season was paused, confidence-wise we weren’t in a good place. We’ve had time now and opportunity to build that up, and all the players have deserved that shirt out there today.
The players are warming up. Villa have put banners over most of the lower-tier seats, at least in the three stands that will feature most often in TV coverage, but the rest is just empty. It looks like Manchester City, who play Arsenal later, have covered pretty much every seat with some kind of decoration.
Updated
Chris Wilder has had a chat. His side have a couple of injuries, including top scorer John Fleck, who scored both in a 2-0 win over Villa at home earlier in the season, who should be back for Sunday’s game at Newcastle. “We’re a competitive side and we compete in training,” Wilder says.
It’s a bit surreal but we’re getting on with it. We have done right through the process. We’re in the same situation as everybody else, we’re just looking forward to getting back to playing. I think it will suit some teams in terms of getting the best players back fit. We were in good momentum but we’ve got to pick that up. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Now the ball rolls and it’s everything to play for. We’ve had a fabulous three-quarters of a season and we’re desperate to finish it off.
Sheffield United’s face masks are very much on brand:
The teams!
Tonight’s line-ups have been announced, and here they are:
Aston Villa: Nyland, Konsa, Hause, Mings, Targett, Hourihane, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, El Ghazi, Davis, Grealish. Subs: Taylor, Nakamba, Trezeguet, Borja Baston, Samatta, Jota, Elmohamady, Reina, Vassilev.
Sheff Utd: Henderson, Basham, Egan, Stevens, Baldock, Berge, Lundstram, Norwood, Robinson, McBurnie, Sharp. Subs: Luke Freeman, Jagielka, McGoldrick, Kieron Freeman, Mousset, Osborn, Clarke, Moore, Rodwell.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Here is your Aston Villa team to face Sheffield United! 👊
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) June 17, 2020
Presented by @eToro.#AVLSHU #AVFC pic.twitter.com/eCS3yEpeMX
Here's how the Bladesmen line-up 👊🏼
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) June 17, 2020
Jack O’Connell and John Fleck out after suffering contact injuries in training, Robinson is drafted into defence, whilst Sander Berge returns in midfield. pic.twitter.com/2mNlGEOqtX
Hello world!
Omigod!
From the sport that brought you
... and also
... not to forget
... it is finally time for
Actual professional English league football!
After 100 days in the sporting desert we are about to enjoy a feast. Sure, a feast of largely and increasingly meaningless end-of-season matches, but let the quantity not be in doubt.
And there is no meaninglessness today. Aston Villa sit 19th with 10 games to play, but know a win would vault them into the giddy heights of 16th. Sheffield United are seventh, but would be fifth by bedtime should they pocket the three points here.
It seems crass in the context of a global pandemic to talk about survival in a mere sporting sense, but Villa’s ambition is to stay in the Premier League for another season and with some difficult fixtures to come a few instant points would certainly help. It seems equally crass given its cause to say that the break came at a good time for them, but they had lost their previous four league games and seemed to already be sliding down the slippery slope of sporting oblivion before being given an opportunity to reset, and to welcome John McGinn into their line-up after long-term ankleknack.
Meanwhile the amateur psychologist in me says that the Blades might have spent the last few months gazing with pride at the league table and planning for the next campaign, and with the wind ripped from their sails might struggle to regain the momentum that seemed set to carry them all the way to Europe. It would be understandable if they tailed off a little from here, but frankly it would also be unsurprising if Chris Wilder just kept producing more miracles from his magic hat.
All that, plus we get to marvel at an entirely empty Villa Park, ponder whether any fans will turn up to loiter outside soaking up the sound of faint and muffled oofs and thwacks floating from within, and boggle at whatever madcap innovations will be crowbarred into the stadium instead of them. At best it could be an absolute thriller, and at worst it will be mildly intriguing. Welcome everyone, I’ve missed you all.
Updated
