Aston Villa suffered defeat at home to Man Utd yet again on Sunday afternoon as the visitors staged a second-half comeback to secure all three points in a 3-1 win.
Villa took the lead through a superb strike from Bertrand Traore in the first half, as the two sides battled hard to gain a foothold while United certainly had chances of their own.
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However, it didn’t take long before the game turned on its head as a penalty from Bruno Fernandes was swiftly followed by a strike from Mason Greenwood which gave the visitors a lead, while Edinson Cavani added a late third to wrap up the victory.
There were certainly many positives to take from the first half from a Villa perspective, but ultimately errors and the penalty changed the course of the game and saw us fall to defeat.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Man Utd
Emiliano Martinez, 6 – Kept busy throughout as Utd had spells on top and forced him into some good saves. Will perhaps feel as though he could have done better on the second goal as he got a hand to Greenwood’s shot, but couldn’t keep it out at his near post.
Matty Cash, 5 – In his defence, he was often left exposed on that side of the pitch and had to deal with Paul Pogba and an overlapping Luke Shaw with minimal help, especially early on. Also lost Cavani for the third goal, and so he’ll look back on a difficult afternoon.
Ezri Konsa, 6 – Decent shift as he kept things tight at the back as far as he could, and wasn’t really at fault for the goals. Will be disappointed that the defence as a whole couldn’t keep Utd at bay.
Tyrone Mings, 5 – Similarly to Konsa, he put in a solid performance for the most part but let himself down with a lapse in concentration in the build up to the second goal. Allowed Greenwood to cut in onto his left foot after being wrong-footed too easily and it proved to be costly.
Matt Targett, 7 – A positive display both in terms of his defensive duties and his attacking play when he was able to get forward. Showing great consistency this season.
Douglas Luiz, 5 – Replaced with around 30 minutes to go, the Brazilian midfielder was decent for the most part but it was a needless foul which led to the visitors getting their penalty. That in turn changed the course of the game entirely while he isn’t enjoying his best form of late on the ball.
John McGinn, 6 – As always, was energetic and his work ethic was on point. Did brilliantly in the lead up to our goal as he pressed high up the pitch to win possession and Traore eventually finished things off. Struggled with the rest of the team in the second half but still a solid shift.
Bertrand Traore, 6 – A superb goal as his sweetly struck effort gave us the lead and really lit the game up for us. However, his lack of defensive work is an ongoing concern with Cash left exposed far too often, although he did show signs of doing a better job of it at times. Confidence is coming back from an attacking sense though.
Ross Barkley, 5 – Not one of his better all-round performances again, as although he put in the effort and worked hard for the team off the ball, he gradually became sloppier as the game went on and was eventually replaced.
Anwar El Ghazi, 5 – Similar to Barkley, his work-rate can’t be faulted as the entire attacking unit began to put it on Utd in the first half and we gained a foothold thanks to their work. However, his quality in the final third wasn’t there as we needed more of it to show a more clinical edge, and so it’s the same issues over consistency.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Never fails to work hard for his teammates both on and off the ball with his movement, pressing and link-up play. However, wasn’t his day in terms of finding a goal and was dismissed late on after picking up a second yellow card. A dubious decision as he was judged to have dived, and he’ll now miss his first league game of the season in midweek.
Substitutes:
Jacob Ramsey, 5 – Fresh legs, tried to give us a more impetus but struggled to make a tangible difference.
Wesley, N/A
Keinan Davis, N/A