Sitting on 50+ points at this stage of a PL campaign for just the third time ever – and doing so despite winning just two of their last five PL games – Villa enjoyed much of the early possession as expected. However, it was Leeds who almost struck first, with the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin uncharacteristically failing to test Emiliano Martínez on 15’, grossly miskicking despite finding himself in space inside the six-yard box. Villa duly rallied, and Emiliano Buendía fired wide from the edge of the box after a failed Leeds clearance.
A side transformed since the start of December, Leeds refused to retreat, and plundered an opener just past the half-hour mark.
Not long after seeing an attempted shot blocked, Anton Stach unleashed his inner David Beckham, sending a direct free kick from more than 25 yards crashing into Martínez’s top-left corner.
The Villa Park faithful were suitably stunned, though it should have been 1-1 going into half-time, with Douglas Luiz’s lofted cross finding Amadou Onana with the goal at his mercy, only for Karl Darlow to produce a magnificent stop.
Alongside Villa’s pre-round league high 50% win rate after conceding first, that chance illustrated just how far Leeds’ job was from being done. But save for a Buendía shot wide immediately after the restart, Villa didn’t turn the screw too much, and Unai Emery deployed Ross Barkley and Jadon Sancho in an effort to inject some attacking purpose.
However, it was a substitute from the opposite dugout who nearly sealed a Leeds victory, as Lukas Nmecha almost made it 2-0 with his first touch within a minute of coming onto the field, finding a promising header towards the bottom-left corner kept out brilliantly by Martínez.
Try as he might, not even Villa’s star man Morgan Rogers could turn the hosts’ afternoon around, with the England squad hopeful finding himself well-marshalled by a resolute Leeds midfield.
Instead, it was compatriot Abraham who stole an equaliser a minute from the 90’, after a corner delivery saw Ezri Konsa head back to the striker, who fired in to send Villa Park into raptures – his second goal in two games for the Villans.
With this result, Unai Emery avoided a first league loss in 19 all-time matches against a promoted team while in charge of Villa. Meanwhile, despite Leeds now winning on just one of their last 19 top-flight road trips, it’s still surely just a question of when the Whites will clinch safety.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Anton Stach (Leeds United)
