Four lessons from Man Utd’s victory over Aston Villa and their encounter with top four contender

Erik ten Hag asserted early this season, following the current trend of excruciatingly reactive football analysis, that “you are only as good as your last game.”

In their most recent game, Manchester United overcame Aston Villa 2-1 to close the gap on their top-four opponents to five points, yet it’s difficult to gauge exactly how good of a win they had.

The game saw the visitors struggle in between both impressive scoring runs, with Rasmus Hojlund continuing his scorching run to open the scoring and Scott McTominay coming off the substitute to grab the winner in the 86th minute.

Here’s what Ten Hag may have learned from United’s last game.

There was a time, not too long ago when Ten Hag would never have even considered taking off Marcus Rashford while Manchester United were in search of a goal. Yet, the forward’s disjointed form this season ensured that his number was illuminated in red when Ten Hag turned to his bench in the final 20 minutes.

McTominay justified Ten Hag’s decision, rising above Matty Cash to crash in yet another winning goal. Rashford had hardly been poor while he was on the pitch, regularly wriggling past Cash who earned a booking for a foul on the England international.

Yet, it was telling that Ten Hag left the teenage Alejandro Garnacho on the pitch while bringing off the club’s highest-paid player. For all of his trickery, Rashford failed to penetrate the most dangerous area of the pitch – even Harry Maguire had more touches inside Villa’s penalty box.

Rashford remains above Antony in United’s hierarchy. Although, given the Brazilian is still yet to score a single Premier League goal this season, that’s not exactly an accolade to cling to.

Ten Hag has vented his frustrations with United’s defensive approach to dead-ball scenarios this year, demanding his players “grow up and be more physical” after cowering under every set piece Tottenham Hotspur swung into the box.

However, the Dutchman could not have been particularly enamoured by his side’s prowess in the opposite penalty area. United scored a pitiful five set-piece goals across the entirety of last season – the worst return in the Premier League. They had only notched four heading into February but there have been green shoots in this area of late.

McTominay scored United’s third goal in the wild win over Wolverhampton Wanderers from a corner and the opener against Villa was the result of a well-worked routine. Hojlund had already spun to face Maguire while Bruno Fernandes’ delivery was sailing through the Birmingham air. Peeling away from John McGinn, Hojlund was in position to deftly divert Maguire’s knockdown past Emi Martinez.

United’s tally of six set-piece goals is only league average but that’s better than last term’s league low.

Ten Hag has been full of praise for United’s latest academy starlet, hailing Kobbie Mainoo’s hunger for knowledge ahead of the trip to Villa Park. “Kobbie is very coachable and Casemiro has so much experience,” Ten Hag beamed. “Kobbie will learn a lot from it and that will accelerate his development.”

Starting alongside the Brazilian on Sunday, Mainoo showed that he still has some rough edges of his game to smooth. At just 18 years old, that’s not only understandable but expected.

Gareth Southgate has expressed an interest in calling Mainoo up for the national team but one of his compatriots in claret and blue made a strong case for his own senior debut. Jacob Ramsey excelled on his first Premier League start of the year, combining with Villa’s buccaneering left-back Alex Moreno to swamp Mainoo’s flank.

Perhaps emboldened to push forward by the presence of Casemiro, Mainoo left plenty of space for Villa to exploit. Had it not been for a particularly impressive display from Diogo Dalot, Mainoo’s slight dip may have been more costly for United.

For all the talk of United’s reignited charge on the Champions League places, Ten Hag delivered a damning assessment of his players’ match intelligence or lack thereof. “We could have done more,” the coach seethed post-game. “We went every time for goal and not keeping the ball. Recognise the situation, attract, drag them out, then find the right moment to speed it up. Clever players read the game.”

United were fortuitous to emerge from Villa Park with all three points based on the balance of chances and have benefitted from some favourable bounces of the ball throughout their three-game winning sequence. The invariably wild undercurrent to these victories underscores Ten Hag’s demand for composure.

This lack of control – a hallmark of the division’s best teams – undermines their European ambitions. According to Opta’s estimates, there is just a 6.5% chance of Manchester United climbing from sixth into the top four.

Fifth may be enough for Champions League qualification but United will have to rely upon their Premier League rivals. The dismal group stage performance United delivered – recording a club-low four points – has left England playing catchup to Italy and Germany in the coefficient race.

Ten Hag may insist that the last game is all that counts but United’s ineptitude through the opening six months of the season may ultimately be their undoing.

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