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LONDON. — Aston Villa’s remarkable run, of not conceding a goal in the English Premiership games in which Marvelous Nakamba played this season, came to an end at Bramall Lane last night.

The Zimbabwe international midfielder was thrown into the starting XI after being rewarded for his strong performance against Leeds United, at Elland Road at the weekend.

Ahead of the match against the Blades, a lot of media focus was on Villa’s rock-solid defence, which has kept an impressive 13 clean sheets, a record only bettered by Manchester City.

The defence has excelled, but so has the midfield, and a lot of focus was on Nakamba.

Used sparingly this season, Nakamba has seized any opportunity given to him by Dean Smith.

He had featured in eight league games, ahead of last night’s game, starting four of those.

In his 377 minutes of Premier League, Villa hadn’t conceded a goal.

However, all that was ended when David McGoldrich scored in the 30th minute last night to push Sheffield United into the lead.

The Villa defence was caught napping, when a ball was hit across the penalty area and, McGoldrich, coming in from the blind side, timed his run to perfection, to score.

The amazing run for Villa and Nakamba, ended after 407 minutes.

Nakamba, like many Villa arrivals in the summer of 2019, had taken his time to settle.

He had been a substitute for much of his time, but he is a player Smith can always rely on.

Nakamba provides the ideal protection for the Villa defence, he does the dirty work efficiently and isn’t afraid to put himself about.

“That Leeds performance summed up what he is all about. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last kind of performance we see from him,’’ wrote blogger, Matthew Creamer, on the website www.lastwordonsports.com  ahead of last night’s game.

“His importance to the Villa squad is being realised so much that Villa are blocking him from representing Zimbabwe in their African Cup of Nations qualifiers at the end of the month.

“While this is largely down to the new travel restrictions in the United Kingdom, Nakamba could miss key games against Fulham and Liverpool at the start of April.

“The new rules would mean a mandatory ten day period of self-isolation after Zimbabwe was added to the red list in the UK.

“Villa blocking Nakamba emphasises his growing importance to the team and the significant part he will play for the rest of this season.

“Villa have the luxury of having two quality defensive midfielders in Nakamba and Brazilian international Douglas Luiz, both have demonstrated their qualities and have grown since arriving in the summer of 2019.

“Luiz has been Dean Smith’s preferred choice since Villa returned to the Premier League. Luiz has impressed with a string of consistent performances and quality on the ball.  “Since joining Villa, he has nailed a place in the Brazilian national side and has grown into a top midfielder.

“Nakamba is a rock-solid midfielder who stays in the number six role protecting the defence.

“He tackles well and tries to bring a calm, assuring presence. However, he differs from Luiz in terms of quality on the ball. His passing and dribbling isn’t as strong as the Brazilians. “Both bring different qualities to the side and both do their jobs well in the side. What is interesting to note is the pair very rarely play together, Smith has occasionally rotated them in certain matches as well as swapping them during matches.

“There is definitely a case for both to start together in midfield. They did briefly play together when John McGinn missed three months with injury last season but, since the Scotland international returned, that hasn’t been the case.’’ — Sports Reporter/www.lastwordonsports.com.