Monday analysis: Aston Villa show they have the stomach for play-off battle amid Elland Road chaos

There might not have been a huge amount riding on the result, but you would never have guessed it as Villa and Leeds served up one of the Championship’s most extraordinary games of this or indeed any other season.

It will be remembered, chiefly, for the five minutes of madness between Mateusz Klich’s controversial opener and Albert Adomah’s bizarre equaliser, when the Villa winger was allowed to run – almost – unchallenged through the Leeds defence in the name of sportsmanship.

For Villa, once the chaos had been put to one side, the afternoon ultimately provided further proof of the rock-hard mentality which now exists in their ranks and should be reason for huge encouragement heading towards the play-offs.

True, the record-breaking winning league run might be over and the chance to equal the club’s all-time, all-competition benchmark of 11 straight victories gone.

But that didn’t mean Dean Smith’s men left Elland Road feeling they had lost any momentum. Quite the opposite.

They had earned, in some respects, the moral victory, having held out for the point despite being a man down in the closing stages after the perceived injustice of Anwar El Ghazi’s sending off.

The Dutch winger was shown a straight red card by Stuart Attwell for his part in an altercation with Patrick Bamford during the pandemonium sparked by Klich’s goal.

Subsequent TV replays showed El Ghazi had actually made little, if any, contact with the Leeds striker and Villa’s inevitable appeal against a three-game ban which would rule him out of the play-off semi-finals will surely be successful.

Though Adomah was then allowed to score, Leeds still had 20 minutes of playing time, including seven for stoppages, to find a winner.

The fact they couldn’t was in large part down to Villa’s utter refusal to let the result go against them.

Tyrone Mings blocked a Tyler Roberts shot on the line, while Jed Steer instinctively stuck up a hand to prevent Pablo Hernandez from winning it with seconds remaining.

All this, remember, to preserve a point which in the grand scheme of things will make little difference to their final position in the table.

Villa can no longer catch Albion in fourth and know they will face either their Midlands rivals or Leeds in the semi-finals. If it is the latter, they will feel this performance ensured they delivered a necessary message.

“Can never bully us” Mings posted on Twitter an hour after the final whistle. Those four words sum up better than any others Villa’s current spirit.

This was also, ultimately, a good afternoon for the game after Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa agreed to let Adomah level things up.

The circumstances surrounding Klich’s goal were confusing and it would be harsh to put too much blame on a young relatively inexperienced player like Roberts, who sparked the frenzy by intimating he would put the ball out of play, only to knock it down the line to Klich, with Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia lying injured in the centre circle. Likewise, it would be difficult to find a team who didn’t react to such an event in the manner Villa did, no matter the risks their fury contained.

For all the chaos, the two teams together eventually arrived at the correct conclusion. Should El Ghazi’s red card be overturned, no real damage will have been done, though both clubs are likely to receive hefty fines for the scenes which followed Klich's goal. Whether Bamford will escape any further punishment for his part in El Ghazi's dismissal also remains to be seen.

The striker was shown a yellow card in the immediate aftermath by referee Stuart Attwell and the FA will want to know precisely why that decision was taken before proceeding further.

There is a chance the legacy of this game might be seen rather soon, should the two clubs meet again in the play-offs.

This was certainly a match which whetted the appetite. Fears either or both teams might take their foot off the gas following Saturday’s results were quickly dispelled as Villa went after the hosts from the first whistle.

Leeds, pushed back in the opening five minutes, had no choice but to respond. It made for a frantic if tight contest.

Bielsa’s men had seen their hopes of automatic promotion, which burned brightly only a fortnight ago, effectively extinguished by Sheffield United’s 2-0 win over Ipswich.

This was a performance which suggested they are not going to end the season with the whimper some were perhaps predicting.

Villa will have returned home knowing to expect a battle no matter who their opponents when the play-offs begin on Saturday week.

On this evidence, they would appear to have the stomach for it.