Player Ratings: Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa

Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa | Premier League

Manchester United are beaten by Aston Villa as Bruno Fernandes’ late penalty miss denies the United the opportunity to walk away with something from the game.  

Despite United’s woeful display it took the Villans up until the 87^th minute to open the scoring through a Kourtney Hause bullet header. Minutes later United had the chance to respond as Villa’s goalscorer quickly turned into the villain. Fernandes’ cross touched Hause’s arm which was in an unnatural position. After some mind games from the Villa players, Fernandes missed his pen handing United their first loss in the Premier League this season. 

David De Gea: 6 

United’s number one did nothing wrong today. He continued to display positive ball distribution and pulled off a couple of vital saves. 

Defence 

Aaron Wan Bissaka: 7 

In my opinion, Wan-Bissaka was one of Manchester United’s better players today, making explosive forward runs and some good progressive passes. However, I would like to see more crosses sent into the box from Aaron. 

Raphael Varane: 6 

Varane was steady again, today. He wasn’t at fault for the goal and had to deal with United’s defence being changed considerably due to injuries to Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire. 

Harry Maguire: 5 

Maguire was forced to leave the pitch during the second half due to a supposed calf injury. Prior to this, the captain looked shaky on multiple occasions. 

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Luke Shaw: 5 

Luke Shaw was also substituted, due to an injury in the first half. Prior to this, Shaw looked strong, making darting runs forward and attempting to deliver the ball into the Villa box. United definitely missed Shaw’s influence throughout the rest of the game, despite Dalot doing a decent job as his replacement. 

Midfield 

Fred: 6 

Fred played relatively well today. His passing was sharper than that in recent weeks, and he managed to effectively keep control of the ball. 

Scott Mctominay: 5 

Mctominay was a passenger today. He made no influence on the game, and I would’ve liked to have seen more energy and tenacity from the young Scotsman.  

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Bruno Fernandes: 4 

Bruno essentially cost United a point today, firing over his penalty attempt in stoppage time. Aside from this, Bruno didn’t exert much influence on the game, and this was a sub-par performance by his standards. 

Paul Pogba: 5 

Pogba wasn’t up to scratch either. For a player of his quality, I wanted to see him grab hold of the game and make a direct impact through a goal contribution. He was unable to do this. 

Attack 

Mason Greenwood: 6 

Greenwood started well in the first half. However, his involvement deteriorated, and even though he fought till the very end, he was unable to conjure up the moment of magic in which he so often is able to do. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo: 5 

Ronaldo’s impact in this game was also limited. United needed a leader to step up and take charge- Ronaldo didn’t. To be fair, his service was limited, and this was a contributing factor in Ronaldo having a little overall impact.  

Substitutes

Diogo Dalot: 6 

Dalot played well. He showed promising attacking play, equalled by a steady defensive performance. I hope to see more of this in the coming games. 

Victor Lindelof: 5 

Lindelof wasn’t at fault for the goal, and had a tough task on his hands coming onto the pitch midway through a game as a central defender. 

Edison Cavani: 6 

Cavani did well as a substitute. His flicked header (which resulted in us gaining a penalty), essentially had the potential to rescue the game for us. We will see more of Cavani soon.