Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa: Player ratings, man of the match as Bruno Fernandes secures a vital win

A goal from Bruno Fernandes in the first half was enough to give Man Utd a decisive victory against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Villans had gone into the game just six points behind Man Utd in their Champions League qualifying race, but were soundly beaten by the hosts at Old Trafford.
The hosts were in the majority early on, with Marcus Rashford and Fernandes in particular causing problems for Villa’s backline. The pair combined in the 12th minute to nearly open the scoring, but after being played on goal by Fernandes, Rashford’s shot on target from the left side of the box was well blocked by Emi Martinez.

The Red Devils would then go ahead in no time on 27′ through Casemiro. A wonderful swing culminated when Casemiro was dominated by Jadon Sancho inside the box. After controlling, the Brazilian ran a side foot over Martinez’s outstretched arm and off the bar.
In the 39th minute, Man Utd would finally take a deserved lead over the leaping Fernandes.
The goal would come after Rashford charged behind the Villa defense to latch onto a header before drilling a weak effort from the left side of the box towards the bottom corner of the net. While Martinez was there to avoid trouble at Rashford, Fernandes was the quickest to react afterwards to score the opening goal.
The second half proved to be very evenly contested and devoid of any notable goalmouth until the 72nd minute when Casemiro curled a wonderful first-time effort from fully 25-yards out just wide of the left post.

With 10 minutes remaining, Aston Villa would create their best chance of the game. Said chance would fall to midfielder Douglas Luiz, who latched onto a loose ball in the Man Utd penalty area to get two shots on goal. The first of which was blocked on the edge of the six-yard box by Marcel Sabitzer, and the second – a much better strike from the Brazilian – flew past David de Gea in goal but not Victor Lindelof, who’d cleverly dropped back onto the goal-line where he’d block Luiz’s strike.

Man Utd player ratings

GK – David de Gea – 5/10 – The Man Utd number one didn’t have a whole lot to do.

RB – Diogo Dalot – 6/10 – Engaged on the wing.

CB-Victor Lindelof-8/10-him He’s been doing a good job since the first-choice centre-back pairing was injured. He made a brilliant goal line to keep his team ahead.

CB – Luke Shaw – 6/10 – Already an infinitely better centre-back than Harry Maguire.

LB – Tyrell Malacia – 6/10 – A solid performance from the young full-back.

CM – Casemiro – 7/10 – Got things going in midfield for the home side, hitting the bar in the first half.

CM – Christian Eriksen – 7/10 – Uses the ball so, so, so well.

RM – Bruno Fernandes – 8/10 – Best player on the pitch. Scored the opener and was at the heart of all the good things Man Utd have done.

AM – Marcel Sabitzer – 6/10 – Active on and off the ball. Fair performance by the Austrian.

LM-Jadon Sancho-4/10-he He saw the ball a lot but had to use it faster than he did in the danger zones.

ST-Marcus Rashford-6/10-he He struggled Villa’s defense with runs from behind.
Substitutes

Anthony – 5/10.

Fred-5/10. Anthony Martial – N/A.

Harry Maguire – N/A.
Director

Erik ten Hag – 6/10 – The decision to take Bruno Fernandes out turned out to be a good decision.

Aston Villa player ratings

GK – Emi Martinez – 4/10 – Was particularly busy with Rashford. He probably could have pushed Man Utd’s punch further than in the build-up to Man Utd’s opener.

RB – Ashley Young – 5/10 – Worked hard up and down the wing.

CB – Ezri Konza – 10/4 – Rashford’s pace issues.

CB – Tyrone Mings – 4/10 – Like his centre-back, running from behind has proved a problem for Mings.

LB – Alex Moreno – 4/10 – Struggling to keep up with Fernandes.

RM – John McGinn – 5/10 – Stubborn as always but lacking a bit of quality on the ball.

CM – Leander Dendoncker – 3/10 – Struggled against the quality of Man Utd’s midfield.

CM-Douglas Luiz-4/10-he Should have tied at the end of the game.

LM – Jacob Ramsey – 5/10 – Not quite at his best.

ST – Emi Buendia – 4/10 – Calm performance by the Argentine.

ST-Ollie Watkins-5/10-A willing runner for Villa but he can’t get enough of the ball. Substitutes

Calum Rooms – 5/10.

Bertrand Traore – N/A.

John Duran – N/A.

Lucas Digne – N/A.

Manager

Unai Emery 5/10 – The 4-4-2 hasn’t really worked out due to the tremendous quality Manchester United have in the middle of the park.

Player of the Match – Bruno Fernandes

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