𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗠𝗨 𝟭-𝟬 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮: 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁
The match between MU and Aston Villa ended with a minimum win for the home team with the only goal scored by Bruno Fernandes. This victory also helped Erik ten Hag’s squad approach the ticket to the Champions League next season.
Goal:
MU: Bruno Fernandes (39′)
Bruno scored his 100th career goal
Before the match, Aston Villa coach Unai Emery did not hide his ambition to win to be ready to compete for a Champions League ticket or at least a Europa League spot. This was shown through the away team actively playing attacking football right after the opening whistle. However, the injury force that both teams created in the first 10 minutes was not significant.
It was not until the 12th minute that MU became the first team to answer when Bruno Fernandes executed a smart through-ball to release Marcus Rashford to face goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, but the narrow-angle shot of the English striker could not beat the World Cup champion goalkeeper. Two minutes later, after Rashford’s miss, Marcel Sabitzer was given a chance from a delicate pass by Christian Eriksen, but his rapid shot went over the crossbar.
For Aston Villa, the away team created the first and only turbulent situation in the 19th minute when Emiliano Buendia successfully broke the offside trap and sent a favorable cross, but Oliie Watkins missed the ball in the penalty area. The ball went straight to Alex Moreno, but his powerful shot went straight to the position that David de Gea closed.
In the second half of the first half, the game was tilted towards the home team MU when the Red Devils continuously made passes over the high-defense line of the away team. In the 27th minute, Jadon Sancho dribbled skillfully on the left flank before returning the ball to Casemiro to launch a shot in the penalty area, beating goalkeeper Martinez but finding the Aston Villa crossbar.
In the 39th minute, Rashford broke the offside trap from near the midfield and accelerated before shooting diagonally to make Martinez difficult to block. Bruno Fernandes rushed in and scored to beat the World Cup 2022 champion goalkeeper, opening the scoring for the home team. This was also the only goal that helped the Red Devils gain an advantage before halftime.
Entering the second half, Manchester United, similar to the game against Tottenham, started off slow and gave up control of the game to Aston Villa. However, the team’s scoring streak of 20 consecutive games under coach Unai Emery has not been particularly high, which prevented Aston Villa from scoring until the 80th minute. It seemed like they would equalize when midfielder Marcel Sabitzer made a goal line clearance after a shot by Ezri Konsa.
For Man United, after a passive 15 minutes at the beginning of the second half, the Red Devils gradually regained control and started playing high pressing, which caused the away team many difficulties in implementing their attacking strategy. In addition to playing high pressing, in this game, Man United was particularly dangerous in situations where they played long balls from their own half for Marcus Rashford to break the offside trap and create scoring opportunities. However, on an ineffective day, the English striker missed many clear chances.
In addition to Rashford’s bad luck in this game, in the second half, other MU players such as Sancho, Casemiro, Eriksen, and even goal scorer Bruno Fernandes could not capitalize on their scoring chances. However, the draw was maintained until the end of the game, and the Red Devils continued to stay in fourth place, while the team in third place, Newcastle, also won their match at the same time.
Lineup:
MU: De Gea; Malacia, Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen (Fred 76′), Sabitzer (Maguire 86′), Bruno, Sancho (Antony 76′), Rashford (Martial 86′)
Aston Villa: Martinez; Young (Chambers 64′), Konsa, Mings, Moreno (Digne 76′), McGinn, Dendoncker (Bertrand Traore 64′), Douglas Luiz, Ramsey, Buendia (Duran 76′), Watkins.
