Fernandes strikes to secure win for Manchester United against Aston Villa. The finest type of business was done on the field by Manchester United’s players, who ended Aston Villa’s 10-game winning streak and tightened their grip on fourth position in the race for Champions League qualifying after tens of thousands of supporters demonstrated outside Old Trafford, calling for a “100% sale” of the team.
Erik ten Hag can only keep the team moving in the direction of “improvement” if fans are unhappy with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offer to purchase just over 50% of United and his willingness to allow one or more of the Glazer family to have a stake in the company.
Bruno Fernandes’ pivot and finish in the first half secured the three points for the manager against dangerous opponents who had been ascending since Unai Emery became their No. 1 in October.
Ten Hag could therefore be satisfied with a day’s work in which United dominated a stimulating match by pinging the ball about Villa at a quick tempo for the majority of the time.
Fernandes strikes to secure win for Manchester United against Aston Villa
Marcus Rashford started the game with 19 goals at home and finished with the same total, despite a string of opportunities that were started by a left-foot attempt that Emiliano Martnez partially blocked.
Later, in a chaotic passage, Martnez rushed out and slipped, clearing the ball only to Christian Eriksen, who responded to the home crowd’s cries of “shoot” with an errant lob. This was Villa’s next opportunity to escape. Marcel Sabitzer took possession but was unable to complete the task at hand or when given a second chance a little while later.
All of this was encouraging for United, which did not please Emery, who temporarily sat down in displeasure after engaging in an expressive, almost semaphore-like touchline act before getting back up to encourage his team.
The following threat came from Fernandes via a right-handed arcing ball that no teammate was available to complete. Villa then started a raid, and United was informed. Emiliano Buenda came up in an inside-right position, slid the ball past David de Gea, and Diogo Dalot stuck out a boot as Ollie Watkins went down. The home side was able to breathe again when De Gea leaped to his feet in time to block Lex Moreno’s pile driver.
In a spectacle filled with incidents Ahead of Villa’s captain, John McGinn, who was poised to score at the other end but was stopped by Tyrell Malacia’s challenge, Casemiro came the closest to scoring so far by smashing the ball off Martnez’s bar.
United now scored the winning goal. Rashford gathered a high pass that was flicked on before shooting across Martnez. The No. 1’s save was feeble, allowing the ball to fall into Fernandes’ hands. He twisted and forced the ball home through a Moreno deflection that unintentionally chipped the writhing goalkeeper.
