The Blades went in to yesterday’s game knowing that a point would almost certainly be enough to secure their Premiership status.
What followed was arguably the worst performance of the season from a set of players who seemed to have been told by manager Neil Warnock to forget the scoreline and just avoid injury at all costs.
In all fairness to Villa, the home side were superb and in the end the 3-0 scoreline flattered United rather than Aston Villa.
Villa signalled their intention to attack from the very first minute as Carew strolled past Kilgallon, who turned into Bromby’s twin for the evening, before having his effort blocked by Morgan.
Attack after attack from Villa finally resulted in the inevitable, as the Blades fell behind to a AGBONLAHOR strike on 25 minutes.
The pacey forward beat Kilgallon for both speed and strength before crashing his shot past Kenny and into the far corner of the net.
Villa almost made it 2-0 just after the half hour mark but a save from Kenny and a wild shot from Gardner kept the scoreline down.
However, the Blades were 2-0 down just before half time as YOUNG beat Armstrong down the right wing before sending a shot under Kenny who really should have saved with his feet.
United made their first clear chance at the start of the second half as Stead moved down the wing but ran the ball just out of play before pulling it back for Shelton to score.
Next a free kick fell to Morgan on the edge of the box but the defender placed his shot wide of the post.
Villa replied with a shot by Berger and two goal line clearances from Morgan and Kenny before they wrapped the game up on the hour mark.
Neat work by BERGER saw the midfielder play a one-two with Carew before placing his shot past Kenny and into the corner of the net, with the aid of a deflection off the post.
The Blades replied with a Shelton run and shot, but the striker’s effort fail to trouble Sorensen and went wide.
Kenny saved well from a Laursen header before Gillespie saw his volley pushed round the post by Sorensen.
A consolation goal could have made all the difference come the end of the season but the Blades struggled to even create a chance in the dying minutes as their most heartless display of the season came to an end.
Player Ratings
Kenny
6.5/10
Geary
7.5/10
Kilgallon
3/10
Morgan
5/10
Armstrong
3/10
Jagielka
3/10
Montgomery
4/10
Tonge
3/10
Gillespie
3/10
Kazim-Richards
5/10
Stead
5/10
Leigertwood
5.5/10
Shelton
6/10
6/10