Aston Villa fans at Villa Park were heard chanting Tammy Abraham’s name when they were down by a goal against the well-organised Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.
The English striker returned to English football in the 2026 January transfer window, having left England in 2021 for spells at Roma and AC Milan in Italy and Besiktas in Turkey.
Anton Stach’s beautiful free kick gave Leeds United the lead in the 31st minute, shocking the home crowd.
After a constant attack and pressure, Abraham, who replaced Eme Buendia in the 75th minute, scored in the 88th minute to steal a point for Aston Villa.
After the game, Spanish manager Unai Emery praised his new striker for his quick adaptation.
“He’s adapting again because he left the Premier League several years ago. He’s adapting to everything we are demanding and tactically to exploit his qualities of running in behind and winning duels. The duels are more and more physical in the Premier League than ever before, and he’s adapted well,” Emery said.
“It’s a huge commitment from him to try and help us as much as possible, and he showed that because he played 20 minutes and he was motivated and pushing and scored [a goal because of that]. It’s a good point, the key going forward to improve things is getting confidence to understand why we are like we are”, he added.
Aston Villa now sits in third place, having won 51 points. They are seven points behind the leaders Arsenal after missing a huge opportunity to close the gap on top of the table. Many believe that Aston Villa’s slim title aspirations are waning after winning just one in their last four league games.
