Preston North End vs Aston Villa. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance19,126.
Lukas Nmecha scores to cancel out Tammy Abraham's first-half goal for Aston Villa
Saturday 29 December 2018 18:39, UK
Preston sealed a valuable 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Deepdale.
On-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham's 14th goal of the season put Villa in front in the first half before Lukas Nmecha's close-range finish after the break - which took a deflection off Ahmed Elmohamady but the Preston striker claimed as his own - ensured the shares were spoiled.
The result ends Preston's run of two defeats in Championship action over the festive period, as promotion-chasing Villa picked up a third draw in their last five league matches.
The hosts flew out of the traps, with Jordan Storey hitting the bar after just two minutes - as Villa failed to clear a corner - before Tom Barkhuizen lofted a half-volley over the bar a minute later.
Both sides struggled to generate any fluency in the opening 45 minutes, with Abraham frequently isolated for the visitors and Nmecha finding it difficult against an experienced Villa defence.
Graham Burke almost sparked the contest into life on 33 minutes, latching onto Daniel Johnson's chipped pass, but Orjan Nyland reacted well to tip his volley wide.
Abraham created a half-chance on 42 minutes, jinking past two Preston challenges and into the area before curling an effort over the bar.
But Dean Smith's side made the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time, as Glenn Whelan's whipped corner found its way to Abraham at the back post, who nodded home from close range.
The second period began with a flurry of chances, with Nyland saving well with his legs from Nmecha before Declan Rudd was called into action to repel Conor Hourihane's long-range strike.
Preston grabbed an equaliser on the hour mark, as Nmecha bundled home a cross from Johnson from a yard out - with the aid of Elmohamady.
The Manchester City loanee looked determined to score a second goal, curling wide from 25 yards on 65 minutes and being denied by a last-ditch James Bree tackle two minutes later.
Barhuizen then hit the post from just inside the area from Johnson's through ball before blazing the rebound wide from a tight angle, as Preston pushed for a winner.
Villa remained a threat in the closing stages and Anwar El Ghazi forced Rudd into a smart save on 79 minutes.
Smith's side almost stole all three points at the death as substitute Birkir Bjarnason lashed over the bar from close range on 90 minutes and Rudd then denied the Iceland international in added time.
Alex Neil: "Since I've been here, we've put in a lot of important performances in big games but for this one, against a side that has expectations of being in the Premier League, everything came together.
"When you look at our starting line-up and the young players involved, this is probably as proud as I've been since I came here "The effort, the quality we showed and our approach to the game were all excellent. The only disappointing thing is that we didn't win the game, as I thought we deserved to win."
Dean Smith: "I'm disappointed with our performance. We did not deserve to win based on the amount of big chances that we gave away. I thought that defensively we weren't great, and on the ball also. We played well in the first half in certain elements but every time we got forward, the ball was turned over and they created a chance.
"They created numerous chances with simple balls over the top and we didn't deal with that. I know we have issues with defenders out injured and we had three right-backs playing, but we have to deal with this type of play better. They've had big chances but so have we, in the late stages. We had a great chance right at the end with Bjarnarson, for example."
