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Wayne Rooney's sublime volley and a brace from Ander Herrera were enough to see off Aston Villa and send Manchester United into third place in the Premier League. After dominating the majority of the possession in the first half, Herrera's calm finish just a few minutes before half-time gave the home side the lead they had been clamouring for. Rooney doubled the lead with a majestic volley from near the penalty spot. Although Christian Benteke equalised soon afterwards, Herrera's second, in stoppage time eased any nerves at Old Trafford and ensured their fifth successive win in the league.Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 East gets it wrong again
After the controversy surrounding his last visit to Old Trafford, where he sent off the wrong player in the game against Sunderland, referee Roger East would have wanted a nice, quiet start to the game. But within a matter of minutes, he had another big decision to make. Ciaran Clark pulled Wayne Rooney's neck just as the striker was clean through on goal. That should have resulted in a sending off and a penalty being awarded for the home side. Instead, East dismissed the protests from the United players and added to his catalogue of errors at Old Trafford. After claiming that he was right to send off Wes Brown when there was no contact, you have wonder whether he is going to respond with something similar after another mistake at the Theatre of Dreams.
#2 Second place is certainly up for grabs
If Manchester United needed any motivation ahead of their game against Villa, they certainly got that as the Gunners beat Liverpool in the day's early kick-off. Prior to the game, Van Gaal was talking about a potential late charge for the title. But if that seems a little far-fetched, then second place is certainly not beyond their grasp. With City faltering and United picking up their momentum at the right time, a win next week over their neighbours might put them in pole position for second place. Having occupied a top four spot since the win over Arsenal in November, that would certainly be the perfect end to a season that has had its fair share of ups and downs.
#3 United finally have goals from midfield
The hallmark of a great side isn't the amount of goals they score, but the variety of scorers they have. For it shows that they have more than one way to hurt the opposition. Although United have had one of the best strike forces in the league for the past few seasons, they struggled to find goals from elsewhere. Ever since Paul Scholes moved into a deeper role, there wasn't any goal-scoring threat from midfield, which created problems when the goals from the strikers dried up. This season, the addition of Herrera, coupled with Mata's increasing influence on the team means that United have finally added some variety to their list of goal scorers.
#4 Villa back in relegation trouble
Two wins from their last three games have certainly lifted the spirits at Aston Villa. But this defeat, coupled with wins for QPR and Leicester means that Tim Sherwood's side might yet be dragged back into the relegation dogfight. Although they started with two strikers and lineup looked positive, the visitors showed a surprising lack of ambition for a side that was fighting to stay in the division. With just eight games to go before the season ends, Villa might yet need a couple of more wins to ensure their safety. This loss also means that their game against QPR on Tuesday night takes on even more significance in their bid to extend their top-flight status.
#5 De Gea is human after all
At the start of the season, praises were coming through from all corners for David De Gea. United's Spanish shot-stopper had, on more than one occasion, kept his side in the game and ensured that they took all three points instead of one. Some of his saves were absolutely super-human and it looked as though he couldn't be beaten. But in the last couple of weeks, the Spaniard has let his side down. If the goal conceded against Liverpool was bad luck, then the one scored by Christian Benteke is quite simply down to his slow reactions. The Red Devils will certainly be glad that those two errors didn't cost them anything and will be hoping that he can return to his best in the next few weeks and put aside those two goals as a minor blip in an otherwise stellar season.
