Aston Villa made it 10 consecutive wins across all competitions on Sunday after securing a 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
A stunning brace from Morgan Rogers inspired the win, as he twice put us ahead with spectacular strikes, and while Villa will be disappointed with the manner in which we conceded the equaliser, we were able to hold out and seal the win in the latter stages.
That’s now seven wins on the bounce in the Premier League as we further establish ourselves in third place, while it’s 10 across all competitions as this incredible winning run goes on.
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We certainly weren’t anywhere near our best and Unai Emery will no doubt analyse where we can improve and do better, but the fact remains that we are finding a way to win regardless and it was a special performance from Rogers that guided us to a big three points over United.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Manchester United:
Emiliano Martinez, 8 – Top finish from Cunha to beat him for the goal after the mistake left him exposed, but he made a string of important saves during the game to play a key role in the win.
Matty Cash, 6.5 – Will be bitterly disappointed with the error he made just before half-time to gift Man Utd the chance to equalise. That moment aside, he put in another resilient and diligent display.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – His partnership with Lindelof still needs work as we look exposed through the middle at times and Cunha should have scored a second having ghosted into space between the pair. However, he did his job well and was composed in possession.
Victor Lindelof, 7 – As noted above, Villa need to tighten things up in central defence as although both Konsa and Lindelof did well individually, the work as a pairing still needs improving as we look vulnerable with the space we leave between defenders.
Ian Maatsen, 7 – His defensive work continues to improve as he made countless key interventions to break play up and win back possession. Sloppy moments crept in while on the ball, but a decent shift on the whole.
Amadou Onana, 7.5 – Important physical presence in midfield to help disrupt Man Utd’s play, win possession back and get us moving up the pitch. As a collective though, we did struggle to impose ourselves and retain control as effectively as we know we’re capable of.
Boubacar Kamara, 7 – Similar story to Onana, looked to fade as the game went on too and so perhaps we need to manage his minutes with a hectic few days coming up. Nevertheless, stuck to his task well in protecting the backline and giving us composure in midfield.
John McGinn, 8 – A really critical presence as he showed great hold-up play to alleviate pressure and link things together to help us look an attacking threat too. That was on display with his assist for Rogers’ first goal, as he held the ball, turned and played a direct pass into his teammate to go on and score. Top effort from the Villa skipper.
Youri Tielemans, 7 – Not as influential in a more advanced role and we missed his composure and quality in possession to control the game more effectively. However, still played his part by applying pressure higher up the pitch, linking our play together and creating openings for us to threaten.
Morgan Rogers, 9 – What a player. Full of confidence, he is looking like an absolute star. Two fantastic goals as he showed real quality with the finishes, found pockets of space effectively, and regularly, to pose a threat and looked our best player on the pitch by some distance. The X-factor we need to sustain this run.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Struggled again unfortunately as although he showed good movement and desire, he is lacking something in terms of pace and a clinical and ruthless edge in the final third. Hopefully he can find some form in front of goal sooner rather than later.
Substitutes:
Lucas Digne, N/A
Donyell Malen, N/A
Emiliano Buendia, N/A
Evann Guessand, N/A
Lamare Bogarde, N/A
