Sheffield United 1 Aston Villa 0 - Report

This was the fourth time Villa have played on the middle day of the week this season and this was both their fourth defeat and comfortably the worst result of the campaign.

It wasn’t just that the loss came against Sheffield United, the team sitting rock bottom of the Premier League, who had lost 21 of their first 26 matches.

Neither was it just the fact it came after playing the final 33 minutes against 10-men, after Blades defender Phil Jagielka became the subject of the latest VAR controversy when he was somewhat harshly sent-off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

This was also a defeat which posed serious questions about Villa’s ability to sustain a challenge for European qualification over the season’s final weeks.

Smith’s team remain in contention, still with matches in hand. Yet their inability to follow up positive results is proving very costly. Not since December have they recorded back-to-back wins and much as last Saturday’s win was an occasion they got everything right, here they got everything wrong, allowing a struggling team a foothold in the game and then being unable to recover.

Smith, again without the talent of Jack Grealish as he continues to nurse a shin injury, may reflect he erred in sticking with the same line-up that impressed at Leeds. What worked at Elland Road did not work here. Though Ross Barkley, Morgan Sanson and Keinan Davis were all introduced to take part in a siege of the Blades goal in the closing stages, the changes perhaps came too late.

David McGoldrick’s 31st minute strike, the first time Villa had conceded in four away matches and only the home side’s 16th goal of the season, proved to be the winner.

With the Blades low on confidence, Smith will have instructed his team not to offer them any encouragement.

Yet that is precisely what Villa did, John McGinn setting up an early break for the home side when he presented George Baldock with the ball in midfield. The Scot, to his credit, cleared up his own mistake by racing back and dispossessing his opponent with a perfectly-timed challenge in the box.

Villa, admittedly, were looking the more likely to break the deadlock. McGinn should have at least hit the target when he sent a right-footed effort off target from close range, while home keeper Aaron Ramsdale saved from Ollie Watkins after the striker attempted to shoot from a tight angle, having latched on to Anwar El Ghazi’s clever through ball.

There were even shouts for a penalty when Blades defender Kean Bryan rather clumsily collided with Watkins as the striker looked to burst through.

But it never felt as though the visitors had control of the game and just past the hour mark the Blades went ahead. McGoldrick cut in from the left and fired a crossfield pass into the path of Baldock, tearing down the right, before advancing into the box and finishing at the far post after the winger had cut inside and fired the ball across goal.

Bertrand Traore almost conjured a swift and sublime response for Villa. Yet having done the hard work by dancing past a couple of challenges on the edge of the box and with five defenders in attendance, he drilled his finish wide of the post.

Traore then sae an effort blocked by Jagielka early in the second half as Villa looked to apply some sustained pressure.

An equaliser almost arrived when Watkins flicked on a wicked Matt Targett cross, only to see the ball come crashing back off the bar.

Then came the moment of huge controversy as Jagielka saw red. The defender brought down El Ghazi as the winger looked to collect a ball over the top. Referee Robert Jones initially showed a yellow card but changed it to red after watching the incident again on the monitor, on the advice of VAR Graham Scott, despite the face there appeared to be a covering defender.

Villa really had the upper hand now but the Blades were not giving in easily. McGinn saw an effort blocked, before Tyrone Mings’ header from the resulting corner dropped just wide of the target.

Smith introduced Ross Barkley, Morgan Sanson and Keinan Davis off the bench as Villa, a little belatedly, switched to a more attacking shape.

But chances remained at a premium and only in stoppage time was Ramsdale seriously tested, getting down quickly to deny Ezri Konsa.

Teams

Villa (4-3-3): Martinez, Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Nakamba (Barkley 68), Ramsey (Sanson 68), Traore (Davis 81), Watkins, El Ghazi Subs not used: Kesler, Engels, Taylor, Luiz, Trezeguet, Heaton (gk).

Sheff Utd (3-5-2): Ramsdale, Ampadu, Jagielka, Bryan, Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, McGoldrick (Osborn 72), Brewster (Burke 60, McBurnie 88)) Subs not used: Sharp, Mousset, Lowe, Ndiaye, Maguire, Foderingham (gk).