Manchester United played out a goalless draw away to Aston Villa.
FIRST HALF
The teams were welcomed to the pitch by a vociferous Villa Park atmosphere and the lights show on the pitch beforehand demonstrated the high-profile nature of the contest that lay ahead.
Erik ten Hag made four changes from our midweek draw to FC Porto, including two at centre-back, where Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans returned to the team, and we also welcomed back Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho further forward.
One man keeping his spot was Marcus Rashford, who showed the same signs of danger he displayed early on in Portugal, when he raced past Ten Hag, watching on from the touchline, and all the way into the area, where his shot was batted clear by Emiliano Martinez.
The game remained tight for the most part, with Jonny Evans making some key interventions, notably dispossessing Ross Barkley, when he looked set to pounce in the area. Villa had the greater share of possession, but couldn’t forge their way into the arena.
Alejandro Garnacho briefly popped up on the left flank and drew a near-post stop from Martinez, and Rasmus Hojlund did well to best Pau Torres in midfield shortly afterwards, but was unable to get the return pass he needed from Rashford, as a gritty first half ended.
SECOND HALF
We started the half well with both De Ligt and Lindelof playing their part in our defensive line pressing higher up the pitch. After Mainoo was closed down in midfield, De Ligt was quick to win his duel and return the ball to his team-mate, who in turn fed Rashford to drive to the edge of the box and shoot. His effort required a magnificent Martinez fingertip to send it onto the crossbar, before Garnacho fired wide from the resulting corner.
Bruno Fernandes almost scored a wonderful free-kick, but his effort agonisingly struck the woodwork.
Ollie Watkins fired a shot over from the angle not long afterwards, before the much-heralded arrival of fellow attacker Jhon Duran, but our back line remained solid in the face of the challenge posed by Villa’s in-form man.
United had Dalot to thank for a heroic block as he stood in the way of a first-time strike from Philogene in the box, and our defender then raced clear with the ball from the resulting corner to set up a counter. The recipient of his pass down the right was Garnacho, who had Fernandes eagerly getting forward to his left, but the Argentine could not complete the decisive pass.
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