Manchester United Player Ratings Against Aston Villa
Manchester United and Aston Villa were evenly matched in the early stages of the game, but Villa got the first real chance of the match when Christian Eriksen sent a shot straight at Emiliano Martinez.
Villa took the lead in the 22nd minute through a bizarre own goal by Andre Onana, who fumbled a free kick into his own net. Villa doubled their lead soon after with a tap-in by Leander Dendoncker following another defensive blunder.
Manchester United tried to respond, but Marcus Rashford’s shots were not troubling Martinez, and the home side went into halftime two goals down. The second half started off in much the same way as the first, with United struggling to find a way back into the game.
However, they were controversially denied a goal three minutes in, when Alejandro Garnacho was ruled offside by the thinnest of margins.
Garnacho soon made amends, staying onside to finish off a brilliant cross from Marcus Rashford to pull one back for the hosts. Just minutes later, Garnacho had his second goal, this time taking advantage of a loose ball and a huge deflection to restore parity.
The comeback was complete just nine minutes from full time by Rasmus Højlund who grabbed his first ever Premier league goal for United since his bug money move in the summer.
Man Utd player ratings against Aston Villa:
GK: Andre Onana – 5/10
– Caught out once again in comical fashion. It is hardly the ideal audition for the new owners.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6/10 – Nice and composed in possession and did a solid job of marshalling his side of the pitch.
CB: Raphael Varane – 6/10
– Seemed to actively move out of the way for Villa’s second goal, which isn’t ideal but was good in terms of distribution and made a few decent saves.
CB: Jonny Evans – 6/10
– Passed up the chance to play the ball over to Rashford despite the winger making some nice runs. Did clear off the line immediately after the equaliser.
LB: Diogo Dalot – 5/10
– Not a left-back. Looked uncomfortable trying to play on the opposite side of the pitch.
DM: Kobbie Mainoo – 7/10
– Perhaps a little safe in possession but was at least comfortable and composed. Really put himself about in defence.
CM: Christian Eriksen – 7/10
Pinged some lovely passes around from deep positions, but it was his quick, short passes with Fernandes that helped change the game.
RM: Alejandro Garnacho – 9/10
– A huge threat on his opposite wing. He looked very dangerous even before he started scoring.
AM: Bruno Fernandes – 7/10
– Fernandes did a nice job of linking up United’s midfield and attack, but it was his pressing which made the biggest impact as he recovered possession for Garnacho’s first goal.
LW: Marcus Rashford – 8/10
– Made some excellent runs, which his teammates often looked scared of trying to find. When he eventually did get the ball, Rashford was United’s biggest threat for large parts of the game and deservedly picked up an assist.
ST: Rasmus Hojlund – 6.5/10
Great all round performance and finally got his breakthrough Premier league goal.
Substitutes:
Manchester United made several substitutions in the second half, bringing on Antony, Scott McTominay, Willy Kambwala, Dan Gore, and Hannibal Mejbri. None of the substitutes played for long enough to have a significant impact on the match, and none of them were able to influence the final result.
