Seven minutes into nine minutes of second-half stoppage time Nicoló Zaniolo rescued a point for Aston Villa against lowly Sheffield United but Unai Emery’s annoyance at their failure to take victory is unlikely to subside anytime soon.
The question Emery will surely ask himself is would bona fide title contenders fail to beat the team that began the day bottom of the pile? Of course the flipside is to consider the determination Villa showed to keep pushing when it seemed it was going to be one of those days, a missed opportunity. But Zaniolo headed in late on to grab a point when it seemed all was lost. Cameron Archer’s 87th-minute strike looked to have snatched victory for the Blades but the former Villa’s youngster’s goal proved inadequate to earn their first away win of the season.