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An in-form Manchester United traveled to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa for their English Premier League matchday 13 clash on Sunday afternoon (November 6).
Villa’s new manager Unai Emery outclassed Erik ten Hag in his first match in charge, guiding the hosts to a memorable 3-1 victory over the lofty visitors. Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne, and Jacob Ramsey were the goalscorers for the Villans, while Ramsey’s own goal served as consolation for Ten Hag’s side.
Emery’s Villa enjoyed a blistering start to the game, pulling ahead after just seven minutes of play. Bailey superbly used his first touch to take Jacob Ramsey’s pass past Lisandro Martinez before putting his boot through the ball and finding the far corner.
Four minutes later, they doubled their tally, courtesy of a brilliant Digne free-kick. The Frenchman dispatched a left-footed free-kick from the right side of the penalty area, making it evade the wall and dip under the bar to beat a fully-stretched David de Gea.
Shell-shocked by the two quick goals, Manchester United took some time to regroup, with them only creating their first clear-cut chance after the half-hour mark. Cristiano Ronaldo leapt the highest to meet with Christian Eriksen’s deflected cross, drawing a brilliant save out of Villa stopper Emiliano Martinez.
Just before the break, United halved the deficit, courtesy of Ramsey’s own goal. Luke Shaw’s half-volley took a massive deflection off Ramsey to swerve away from its natural path and nestle into the back of the net.
Instead of building on to the momentum in the second half, Manchester United once again found themselves two goals down. Ramsey made amends for his first-half own goal by side-footing Ollie Watkins’ cutback into the roof of the net, practically extinguishing all chances of a United turnaround.
After scoring the third goal, Villans closed the shutter, vouching not to allow the Red Devils a sight of Martinez’s goal. United convincingly dominated possession but failed to make inroads into the penalty area in the last 40-odd minutes of the game.
Sunday’s result marked the end of Villa’s 27-year winless run at home against the 20-time English champions. United, on the other hand, produced one of their worst performances of the 2022-23 season. Here are five Red Devils stars who failed to live up to their billing against Villa on matchday 13:
#5 Diogo Dalot
Manchester United’s dependable right-back had been on a roll for over a month, producing one impressive display after another. His run came to an end on Sunday, with him failing to make a tangible impact. He could not create openings, lost quite a few bouts, and lacked accuracy when distributing the ball.
Dalot did not play any key pass, misplaced two crosses and three long balls; and lost possession a whopping 20 times against Emery’s men on Sunday.
#4 Victor Lindelof
Victor Lindelof was all over the place against Aston Villa. He was easily moved around by the Villa forwards, with the center-back failing to keep up with their blistering pace. Lindelof was completely undone for Villa’s third goal, with Watkins comfortably cutting the ball back past him and into the area for Ramsey, who applied an emphatic finish.
Against Villa, Lindelof only had one clearance, lost an aerial duel, and ceded possession four times.
#3 Donny van de Beek
Donny van de Beek was one of Manchester United’s weakest links in their Europa League win over Real Sociedad on Thursday (November 3). Despite his shaky display, Ten Hag opted to give him another shot against Villa.
The midfielder was just as clueless in the Premier League as he was in Europa, once again failing to get involved and not being able to do anything of note.
On Sunday, Van de Beek took only 18 touches in 66 minutes, playing 13 accurate passes. He lost an aerial duel, ceded possession thrice, and was caught offside once.
#2 Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford, who has emerged as one of Manchester United’s best players this season with 10 goal contributions in 17 matches (across competitions), started on the right flank against Villa. The Englishman could not make an impact operating on the right in the first half, and things did not improve when he switched flanks later in the game.
Rashford could not dispatch even a single shot, let alone one on target. He lost eight ground duels, ceded possession 15 times, committed two fouls, and misplaced two crosses. It was arguably his worst performance for United this season.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Erik ten Hag placed Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of United’s attack on Sunday. The Portuguese looked lively in bits and pieces in the first half, drawing a fine save from Martinez in the 34th minute. In the second half, he was anonymous, struggling to even get a touch of the ball.
On Sunday, Ronaldo did not play a single key pass, misplaced his only attempted cross, lost possession four times, and was caught offside once. The former Real Madrid man was also shown a yellow for his violent tussle with Tyrone Mings in the 61st minute.
