An impressive Aston Villa hit three goals past a lackluster Manchester United to end their 27-year winless streak against Old Trafford.
Two goals in the first quarter of an hour was enough to send Villans into half-time break ahead of United which showed no signs of getting back into the game even after 43rd minute’s deflection from Villa’s Jacob Ramsey gave United a half time break consolation. Goals from Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne and second half’s Jacob Ramsey earned Aston Villa an historic home win over Manchester United in Unai Emery’s first game in charge.
In the absence of Bruno Fernandes, and his place taken by Dutchman Donny Van Dar Beek, the Old Trafford outfit looked obtuse the entire game, and especially at the midfield. There were no defence-slitting passes that are ever sewn by the Portuguese playmaker.
The stand-in captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, was another mess. With the armband, United coach didn’t see a need to pull out the Portuguese – who recently caused a disquiet in the United camp after walking out from the bench (when the game was still in progress) for not starting their game against Tottenham Hotspur. Second half was not better either. The usual short passes synonymous with Ten Hag’s mode of play at the middle of the pitch were no show. The combination of Van Dar Beek, Eriksen and Casemiro could not produce even half of what people have seen in the United’s midfield in the recent past. That is what the agile Aston Villa capitalized on to hit the third past a hapless custodian David De Gea.It was Unai Emery’s first Premier League game as a coach after his short stint with La Liga’s Villarreal CF. The former Arsenal tactician must have known what buttons to press to hit at United. Having been in charge of Spanish club Villarreal CF, Emery won the last Europa UEFA game with the Spanish club against United in the final. This was his second win against Manchester United in a row, as a coach – albeit with different clubs.
