Aston Villa crashed out of the Carabao Cup third round on Thursday night after a 4-2 defeat to Man Utd at Old Trafford.
Despite twice taking the lead in the second half after a poor opening 45 minutes from both sides, Villa were unable to protect our lead on either occasion as the hosts hit back almost immediately with Ollie Watkins and a Diogo Dalot own goal seeing us go ahead.
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With further shambolic defending at times after the break, Villa eventually went on to lose the tie as we’re now left to rue a big missed opportunity not only on the night itself, but also in terms of a chance of winning silverware this season given the draw really opened up this week following some big-name exits.
The focus for Unai Emery and the players will quickly now shift to Sunday’s encounter with Brighton, our last outing before the World Cup break, but the Villa boss will surely have learned a lot from this performance to take forward with him.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Man Utd:
Robin Olsen, 4 – Always difficult for a goalkeeper who doesn’t play much to come in and he did produce a couple of key stops. However, looked shaky throughout when trying to take command of his box and with his distribution, as his poor pass in the second half led to Utd going ahead. Unclear if he’s going to convince as a reliable back-up between the posts.
Ashley Young, 6 – A tenacious and gritty performance from the veteran as he worked tirelessly to keep Utd’s threat down that flank limited, while he also pushed forward to offer width. Provided the cross for Bailey’s header which saw us take the lead again and so it was a decent shift from Young.
Ezri Konsa, 6 – Showed solidity for the most part as he dealt with the threat coming his way as Villa defended well in the first half. However, was sloppy in possession on occasion too and was getting caught out along with the rest of the backline with the long ball over the top before he was replaced.
Calum Chambers, 5 – Disappointed with his distribution as he usually shows more composure on the ball, but was sloppy in this one. Further, got caught out on several occasions and his lack of pace was exposed as he began to really struggle with Utd’s attacking players in the second half.
Ludwig Augustinsson, 5 – A really limited performance in possession as he seems to have a habit of pushing forward only to then turn back and play a safe pass back to his centre-half. Defensively was similar to Chambers in that he was getting caught out over the top and didn’t have the pace to get back and cut danger out.
Jacob Ramsey, 7 – One of the better Villa performers on the night as he showed good physicality and intent with his play. Broke forward and played a great pass into Watkins for his goal, and so he needs to now keep this level up and continue to be a decisive figure for us in the final third.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Did well in the first half as we defended resolutely as a unit and his technical quality along with Kamara was important. However, seemed to lose his ability to influence the tempo of the game after the break as we came under plenty of pressure.
Boubacar Kamara, 6 – Great to see him complete 90 minutes as he steps up his comeback from injury and now looks ready to be more heavily involved. Similar story to Luiz in that he played a big role in keeping us organised and difficult to break down in the first half, but things began to unravel for the team as a whole after the interval.
John McGinn, 5 – Real question mark moving forward now as it’s difficult to see how this performance would have convinced Emery to give him a bigger role. Wasteful in possession and off the pace with his pressing, he couldn’t offer an influential presence in midfield and it’s a real problem that has been going on for some time.
Ollie Watkins, 7 – Took his goal brilliantly as he showed good touch, pace and the finish to put us ahead. He’ll hopefully take a lot of confidence from that as we need him to be more clinical in front of goal. Worked hard for the team but along with a knock he suffered in the second half, looked to be tiring in the latter stages.
Danny Ings, 5 – Worked hard out of possession to apply pressure off the ball, but he struggled to get into the game from an attacking perspective and so it was a frustrating night for him.
Substitutes:
Emiliano Buendia, 5.5 – Tried to add more urgency and intent to our play as he showed good movement and passing but unable to make a decisive impact off the bench.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Did well in the build-up to our second goal to find a dangerous area in the box before losing his marker and forcing the own goal. Showed good pace and directness in his play after coming on.
Tyrone Mings, 4 – Was bound to be difficult coming in and trying to get up to the speed of the game in what was already starting to become a hectic second half. However, from his slip for the equaliser to deflecting the third into the goal and then losing McTominay for the fourth, it wasn’t a good outing.
Matty Cash, N/A
Lucas Digne, N/A