With a victory over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United returned to winning ways in the Premier League and increased their chances of finishing in the top four.
After drawing 2-2 with Tottenham during the previous week, Erik ten Hag's team defeated Unai Emery's team at Old Trafford by a score of 1-0. In the 39th minute, Bruno Fernandes scored the game's sole goal to put the Reds one step closer to qualifying for the Champions League for the upcoming season. With one game remaining, United are currently two points behind third-placed Newcastle.
The Reds still have six Premier League games left until the season is up, and Ten Hag's team will go to Brighton on Thursday night in the hopes of closing the distance on their top-four chasers.
However,it wasn't just Aston Villa's crazy highline defensive offside trap that frustrated Manchester United's attack that could be noticed during the Sunday clash between the Red Devils and the Villans.
The first incidence was Jadon Sancho reacting to Bruno Fernandes being overly much of a complainer in the first half. The Reds winger Jadon Sancho seemed dissatisfied with Fernandes in the opening period. The England international tried to backheel the ball to Tyrell Malacia on the overlap, but he made a poor decision, and the pass went out for a throw-in. Fernandes, who had been pleading with his teammate for the ball, was not pleased with his choice.
Although it's unclear exactly what the Portuguese star told Sancho, followers on social media quickly speculated that after the United captain's outburst, the latter told him to "stop moaning." In the end, the tension was released as Fernandes scored the first goal for Ten Hag's team shortly after.
Another incident occurred during the game, but there's a big doubt that an enthusiastic Man United fan would have missed it: Victor Lindelof's goal line clearance to deny the visitors an opportunity to level the scoreline later in the second half.
Although Douglas Luiz's header from a Villa shot inside the penalty area appeared destined for the top corner, Marcel Sabitzer did well to stop it. The Brazilian attempted to shoot at the United goal, but Victor Lindelof, who was standing on the goal line, was able to deflect the ball away.
Although the offside flag was up, it wouldn't have counted even though the defense was excellent. Nevertheless, the Swedish center-back put in another strong performance as he continues to fill in for the injured Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez at the back.
Another eye-catching moment was Bruno Fernandes celebration after getting the only goal of the game in the first half. Fernandes confronted the Villa supporters who had been jeering at him all game long on Sunday after scoring the game's first goal. The 28-year-old, who endured cries of "Fernandes is a w*****," evidently took pleasure in scoring against the Midlands team, especially given that he missed a penalty against them the previous year.
Given that he beat Emiliano Martinez, it will have been even more satisfying. After Fernandes missed a last-second penalty in front of the Stretford End in September 2021, the Argentine goalkeeper made fun of the United supporters. The Portugal international was on the winning team this time around despite his failure to tie the game that day.
Bruno Fernandes hailed his teammates impeccable defensive display after the game and insisted that they did a good job to ensure Man United took all three points on Sunday.
"We know that we have people missing [through injury]," Fernandes told MUTV. "H [Harry Maguire] was not in his best condition, and he came to help us at the end, coming on in the last few minutes to help the team."
"He has not been in the best form or fit enough to play. I thought Victor [Lindelof] was outstanding today and was one of the best on the pitch, along with Casemiro.
"They were two of the best on the team. But I thought Diogo [Dalot] was incredible. Luke [Shaw], playing out of position again, was unbelievable.
"Tyrell [Malacia] was really good, and for David, as always, we are really happy to keep clean sheets for him because we know how important it is for 'keepers. Obviously, the rest of the team put in a really good performance.
"We could have got a few more goals, but they are a tough team to play against; they are well-organized, have good patterns, and it is never easy."
Aston Villa's shot stopper and World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez also hailed Manchester United's resistance throughout the game and claimed it was harsh for them to lose at Old Trafford.
"It's a bit harsh [to lose]; we didn't start the game well, we were sloppy, and we gave the ball away too many times to them," he told Sky Sports. "Our line was good, our spirit was there in the second half, but at the end of the day, it's zero points that we take back to Birmingham, and it's a little bit frustrating."
"We have got a winning mentality right now; we were unbeaten for 10 games, and we tried to come here to take the three points, not even a draw. We tried at the end; they defended their goal really well and cleared their line a few times, but we can't start games sloppy like that."
The Argentine international also reacted to the Red Devils first-half goal through Bruno Fernandes.
"I didn't do a long ball for 40 minutes, and I decided to go long, and Casemiro did an amazing header, and then [Marcus] Rashford is all of a sudden one vs. one. I made a save, and then it deflected off Moreno. "We are disappointed because we lost the game via a deflection."
"You can see how far we have come with this manager. It is a good time to be a Villa fan. I'm proud to wear this shirt. I'm all in every weekend, and let's see if we can qualify in Europe in the next four games."
Manchester United will be visiting Ammex Stadium on Thursday night to face Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton. They have yet to beat the Seagulls this season in a normal 90-minute football game, having met twice across all competitions.
Post a Comment