Man Utd arrived at Villa Park with 9 unbeaten matches in all competitions. The good results make them very confident. But everything soon disappeared after Man Utd lost the first 2 goals in the match. The nightmare-like disaster that lost to Brentford 0-4 seemed to come back.
Man Utd tried to tighten the game and in fact they also got the equalizer at the end of the first half. But at the beginning of the second half, where was it, Man Utd received more goals with their superficial defense. This goal smashed all hopes of the guests, causing them to leave with a 1-3 defeat.
Coach Ten Hag was clearly very unhappy when he saw his players play like that. He said after the game: “We were pressed by the opponent at the beginning of the first half and at the beginning of the second half. It was really unacceptable form. We were not ready to go into this match.
Ronaldo helplessly watched the opponent score consecutive goals
The players should have done better, had to play more responsibly. We couldn’t hold the ball. We let them corner us early in the game. We didn’t show any fighting spirit either.
My requests were not fulfilled in this match. We Man Utdst say that we are not really ready for the game. The way the players play is unacceptable.”
Ten Hag also criticized the way the students approached the goal in the second half, when they mainly crossed the ball for luck: “It was stupid with the way we attacked with crosses that we did. The players crossed too hastily. yellow, too early, while inside we were still under great pressure from them. We had to cross at the right time. But in the second half, we could only rush to cross.”
‘We can win this!’: Man Utd fans’ rallying cry after Luke Shaw goal vs Aston Villa
Manchester United gave themselves a fighting chance of rescuing something from their clash with Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon, pulling a goal back right on the stroke of half-time.
The Reds, who arrived in the Midlands looking to post a fourth successive victory, found themselves 2-0 down with just 11 minutes on the clock. Fuelled by the energy that had been created as a result of Unai Emery’s arrival at the club, Villa stormed into a two-goal lead, courtesy of strikes from Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne.
The home side dominated the contest for long spells in the opening 45 minutes, putting United on the back foot. They bossed proceedings and could have added to their tally.
However, United, who did marginally improve as the half wore on, did pull a goal back moments before the break courtesy of a deflected effort from Luke Shaw. The England international’s strike from distance deflected off Jacob Ramsey and flew into the net, leaving Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez with no chance at all.
Although it was not pretty, United would not have cared one bit. They needed a goal before the break and they found it, Man Utdch to the relief of their supporters.
Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what United’s supporters had to say in response to Shaw’s deflected effort.
Despite the goal before half-time, United found themselves two goals down again after half-time as Ramsey notched a third for the home side.