"Bruno enjoyed that revenge", "Champions League here we come" - Twitter explodes as Manchester United beat Aston Villa

Manchester United secured a 1-0 Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Sunday (April 30) to keep themselves on course for UEFA Champions League qualification.

The Red Devils were dominant in the first half against high-flying Villa. However, Erik ten Hag's men spurned plenty of chances that could have put themselves in a comfortable position.

Casemiro struck the crossbar in the 28th minute after some good work from Jadon Sancho did well to pick out the Brazilian. It needn't matter though as Bruno Fernandes got revenge over Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the 39th minute. The Argentine shot-stopper celebrated Fernandes' missed penalty when the two sides met in 2021.

Fernandes has been in fine form recently and showed his relentlessness to get on the end of some poor goalkeeping from Martinez. The Argentine could only parry Marcus Rashford's shot and it fell to the Manchester United skipper, whose deflected strike found the back of the net. He stared deeply at the visiting fans while celebrating.

The Portuguese midfielder nearly added a second in the 45+2nd minute but his effort from the edge of the box was well saved. Ten Hag's men headed in at half-time in control.

Villa showed vast improvement in the second half and nearly grabbed an equalizer in the 81st minute. A pinball scenario occurred in the Red Devils' box, with Douglas Luiz having two attempts on goal. The first was blocked before his second being cleared off the line by the brilliant Victor Lindelof.

It was a well-earned three points for fourth-placed Manchester United, who are now nine points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils have six games remaining and boast a game in hand. It was the first time the Villains have failed to score in a game since Unai Emery took over in October.

Manchester United's Jadon Sancho spotted telling Bruno Fernandes to stop moaning

Manchester United's win over Villa takes them onto 63 points for the season thus far. They have already won silverware, winning the Carabao Cup in February, and are in the FA Cup final against Manchester City on June 3.

It has been a spectacular debut season for Ten Hag at Old Trafford and Fernandes has been instrumental. He has bagged 10 goals and 14 assists in 51 games across competitions.

However, one minor negative that is attributed to Fernandes is his constant moaning on the pitch. This is something that drew the ire of Sancho during the win over Villa. The English winger was spotted on camera telling his captain to stop moaning.

Fernandes has explained his character when playing and blames his sometimes questionable demeanor on his passion for the game. He told Sky Sports:

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

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A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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