As the night wore on, the Premier League saw a thrilling contest. At the break of dawn on Saturday (23), in-form Aston Villa hosted bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, but suffered a tough confrontation. It wasn't until the seventh minute of extra time that Nicolou Cignolou hammered home the winner to make it 1-1 and force a draw. The 1.12x 'home win favorite' turned into a 'blowout', as Villa's 15-game home winning streak came to an abrupt end, and they missed their chance to move to the top of the league.
Aston Villa had beaten Manchester City and Arsenal, two of the top contenders in the competition, and were expected to win easily against relegation contenders Sheffield United, but the reality gave them a big slap in the face. Despite Villa's dominance of the field, the offense was unable to break through, and Moussa Dayabi's shot was deflected by Sheffield United's Kordaingham in the 17th minute.
Villa's Rian Bennie had a shot on goal in the 58th minute of play, but the VAR system intervened to point out that Villa midfielder Jaeger and Lance had committed a foul and the goal was ruled out.
As the game wound down, Sheffield United striker Aicha scored in the 87th minute and it looked as though Villa were on the verge of going home with a goal. However, substitute Nicolo Cignolucci headed home in stoppage time to level the scores at 1-1. The 24-year-old Italian international scored for the first time in a Premier League game since joining the club this season, and was a real hero in a stunning display of inactivity in his previous 11 matches.
