Aston Villa’s 10-match unbeaten run in the Premier League ended with a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Villa knew it would be difficult and although they were not at the best, they could have pinched a point.
Three games in a week appear to have taken their toll on Villa’s small squad. The starting eleven currently picks itself with the same substitutes introduced week in, week out. Unai Emery will be looking forward to the summer so he can boost his options in the transfer market but for now, they have four games remaining with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe.
Match Report: Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa
The home side caused problems from the off as they looked to exploit Villa’s high defensive line. The first chance fell to Marcus Rashford after 7 minutes but he put his effort wide with just Emi Martinez to beat. Luckily the linesman flagged for offside to spare the forward’s blushes.
United were in again moments later, Rashford found Bruno Fernandes but Martinez was equal to the Portuguese attacker’s shot.
It took the visitors 20 minutes to threaten the United goal. Jacob Ramsey sent Emi Buendia running into the right-hand side of the box and his low cross found Alex Moreno. The Spaniard’s loss cross come shot was too close to David De Gea.
The home side were soon back on the attack and Villa would have thanked their lucky stars when Casemiro’s shot crashed off the crossbar and was picked out by Jadon Sancho.
Six minutes before the break, the host’s pressure paid off as they took the lead. Rashford was quickest to react when Casemiro headed back a Martinez goal kick and although the Argentine pushed his effort wide, the ball fell to Fernandes who watched on as his effort deflected off Moreno and into the net.
The second half was far from a classic with both defences doing what they needed to do. Tyrone Mings was able to cut out a Tyrell Malacia cross and then Lindelof threw himself in the way of a Ramsey shot.
Villa continued to make things hard for themselves as their midfield struggled to hold onto the ball and make any real chances.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Douglas Luiz was denied twice with the second looking like one of the clearances of the season when Lindelof headed the Brazilian’s effort off the line before the officials blew for an offside as Watkins was judged to have been offside earlier in the move.
Villa came close once again late on when Mings flicked on a Luiz corner but the ball was blocked by Ezri Konsa’s back.
Analysis
Villa were far from their best which made it frustrating but I am not too downbeat by the defeat. We are not out of the race for a European spot just yet and with 6 days before our next match, hopefully, we can see the return of some of our injured players to bolster Emery’s selection options.
Keep the faith Villans, this season isn’t dead just yet!