Villa draw little comfort as spoils are shared

Sheffield Utd - 2 Aston Villa - 2:Martin O'Neill may have succeeded in making Aston Villa difficult to beat but he has yet to discover a winning formula. A match that was comfortably within Villa's grasp at half-time would have slipped through their fingers but for Milan Baros's first goal of the season.

The Czech striker was not the only Villa player to belatedly deliver, with Stilian Petrov scoring his first goal since arriving from Celtic in August but those landmarks provided O'Neill with scant consolation.

This was Villa's 10th draw from 17 league matches and the regularity with which O'Neill's side are sharing points is threatening to overshadow a promising start to the season. Neil Warnock also had cause to be disappointed, the Sheffield United manager saw his players produce a superb second-half display that could have brought a third successive victory had they not become so excited after Danny Webber snatched the lead. Alas, Baros equalised only 60 seconds later.

Villa could not have wished for a better start, Stilian Petrov crashing a right-footed volley from the edge of the penalty area past Paddy Kenny before United had time to blink.

Sheffield's Stephen Quinn was proving to be a troublesome customer, though, his far post volley shortly after the restart was blocked by Olof Mellberg. Villa failed to heed the warning. Two minutes later Villa failed to clear a long throw and Quinn, taking up a similar position to the one he occupied moments earlier, promptly punched a right-footed high into the net.

The Villa goalkeeper Stuart Taylor could do nothing about Webber hooking in from two yards but United held the lead for a mere minute. A swift counter attack saw Sutton head Davis's cross up in the air before Baros hammered home the equaliser.

Guardian Service

SHEFFIELD UTD: Kenny, Kozluk, Bromby, Morgan, Geary, Gillespie, Jagielka, Montgomery, Stephen Quinn, Hulse, Webber (Nade 68). Subs not used: Davis, Alan Quinn, Armstrong, Kazim-Richards. Booked: Kozluk, Bromby. Goals: Stephen Quinn 50, Webber 64.

ASTON VILLA: Taylor, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma (Hughes 67), Agbonlahor, McCann, Petrov, Davis (Osbourne 75), Sutton (Angel 83), Baros. Subs not used: Olejnik, Gardner. Booked: Cahill. Goals: Petrov 2, Baros 64.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire).