Aston Villa vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Villa ParkAttendance34,924.
Wednesday 17 August 2016 10:03, UK
Michael Hefele's lucky goal grabbed Huddersfield a deserved 1-1 draw at Aston Villa after Pierluigi Gollini's gaffe.
The substitute had been on for a matter of seconds when the Villa goalkeeper clattered an 86th-minute clearance straight off his back and helplessly watched it fly into the net.
It was just reward for the Terriers after a spirited second-half fightback following Ross McCormack's opener for the hosts.
The striker, signed from Fulham for £12million this summer, scored his first Villa goal but it was not enough to spare Gollini's blushes at the final whistle.
Nahki Wells also hit the post for the visitors who capped a fine few days following their 2-1 Sky Bet Championship win at Newcastle on Saturday.
Mile Jedinak, ahead of his proposed move to Villa from Crystal Palace, watched on helplessly as Villa blew a fine chance to record back-to-back victories.
They dominated the start and Jordan Ayew forced Danny Ward into an early save before Ashley Westwood blazed Jack Grealish's corner over.
Aaron Tshibola also had a goal disallowed after five minutes when he headed in McCormack's lobbed cross but the midfielder was rightly ruled offside.
Away from the action, the home fans rose to applaud former striker Dalian Atkinson in the 10th minute after the 48-year-old died when he was was hit by a police Taser in Telford on Monday.
Huddersfield offered little resistance and the hosts deservedly took the lead after 25 minutes with McCormack's first of the season.
Tshibola delivered a deep cross which found Grealish and the midfielder's miscued volley looped to the far post for McCormack to head in.
Huddersfield failed to respond and Ayew should have doubled Villa's lead a minute before the break when he swapped passes with Grealish but his shot was cleared off the line by Mark Hudson.
Despite bossing the game, Villa's lead remained slender and Huddersfield began to wrestle the momentum after the second-half introduction of substitute Wells.
First he forced Gollini to rush out and save at his feet before the goalkeeper parried Elias Kachunga's acrobatic volley away after 63 minutes as the hosts began to live dangerously.
They almost wrapped the game up with 19 minutes left when Rudy Gestede powered a header straight at Ward but Huddersfield continued to pin Villa back.
And Wells was inches away from an equaliser when his 81st minute free kick shuddered the post with Gollini beaten.
But they got their leveller in bizarre style with four minutes left when Gollini tried to launch a routine clearance upfield only to hit Hefele and the ball ricocheted into an unguarded net.
