Aston Villa 2 Man United 1
Morgan Rogers was the difference between the teams. Overall I thought the game was quite even on the whole with Villa really struggling to create any clear-cut chances throughout the 90 minutes, the same can’t really be said for United who created a number of chances in the first half that weren’t taken and then were subsequently punished by a bit of individual brilliance by a player right at the top of his game in Morgan Rogers. The goal was sheer class with Roger cutting of the left-hand side and curling the ball past Lammens who stood no chance in the United goal, from a United perspective I think Yoro should have closed down Rogers a lot quicker but you can’t help but just put your hands up when someone scores a goal that good against you.
All of a sudden United’s squad is down to the barebones. For the last couple of weeks all the talk has been how United are going to struggle with Amad, Mbeumo and Mazraoui going to AFCON, I don’t think anyone could foresee the amount of players that are now injured in what will be United’s busiest part of the season. With Bruno Fernandes pulling his hamstring it now leaves United without 7 first-team players that would probably be starting such as De Ligt, Maguire, Mainoo, Fernandes and the ones away to AFCON. Defensively United look a shambles at the minute but there’s no one that can relieve the pressure on the young shoulders of Heaven and Yoro, in the midfield without Mainoo and Fernandes I’m not sure what Amorim’s going to do as a pivot of Casemiro and Ugarte doesn’t fill me with too much confidence, it’ll be interesting to see how Amorim sets up against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
10 wins in a row for Villa. I think it’s a sign of a good team when you don’t play your best but still come out with 3 points, this win puts Villa 3 points off Arsenal at the top of the table and Villa will be looking to solidify their spot in the top 4 over the next month or so. The run of form Villa are on is remarkable beating the likes of City, Arsenal and now United perhaps making Villa fans dream even bigger than the top 4 and why not with the way they’re playing. Unai Emery continues to over-perform with a Villa side that is largely the same as last season bar a couple of squad players like Guessand and Lindelof who have added much needed depth in the squad with Villa playing in Unai Emery’s favourite competition the Europa League this season, you’d imagine on current form Villa are the favourites for that competition.
United have improved in the attack. One positive from the last two games for United is that they look a threat every time they come forward with the likes of Cunha, Mount and Sesko looking dangerous throughout the match, Cunha especially looks confident at the minute scoring again and really should have equalised in the second half with a guilt edged header in the six-yard box that probably would have earned United a point in the end. It seems typical that United have sorted out the attack and now look terrible defensively making errors every game it seems like at the minute. It’s a big if but if Amorim can sort United out defensively there really is potential with this United team to do something this year, unfortunately it doesn’t look likely at the moment but you never know.
Can Villa challenge for the league? With this being Aston Villa’s 10th win in a row it would be wrong to not at least ask the question of whether or not Villa can make a decent push for the title this season. I suppose we’ll find out over the next few games where Villa face Chelsea and Arsenal away from home and those games will probably tell us if Villa really can make a decent title challenge with Arsenal and Man City this season, it would be a great thing for the league if Villa made a title push this year and I’m all for it seeing as though my team Manchester United won’t be near the league this year, exciting times ahead for Villa fans it seems this season.