Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa: Takeaways
Credit: @ManUtd
The race to the top four intensified, as Manchester United capitalised on Liverpool’s defeat to Arsenal with a solid 3-1 win over FA Cup semi-finalists Aston Villa. Goals from Hererra and Rooney sealed the victory; but David De Gea was denied a clean sheet thanks to a Benteke goal.
Here is what we learnt from this game:
1) Midfield Masters
As has been pointed out on numerous occasions, Juan Mata and Ander Hererra have a telepathic connection and showed that again today, as the midfield duo linked up well with Antonio Valencia and controlled the game. The stats didn’t lie, showing 77% possession. That enabled United to fire 19 shots at Villa.
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Mata was not quite the same player he was against Liverpool but was still quality nonetheless and has really seemingly solidified his place in the starting 11 when it appeared he was always going to be a substitute. It was Mata who set up Hererra for his second goal.
Blind also performed well when he ventured into the midfield and Carrick also did his part in making the team get the right result. In short – the midfield was pretty much solid. Valencia’s crossing was not the best but the rest of his game was fine as usual.
Hererra was the standout performer, scoring twice to complete his journey from bench fodder to certain starter. He has now registered 5 league goals this season. At this rate, there will be more to come.
Louis van Gaal has clearly seen that the triangle is working, and should keep that formation for the remainder of the season.
2) No room for Falcao and Di Maria?
It was the same team that beat Liverpool, bar Rojo coming in for the injured Smalling. That meant leaving Falcao and Di Maria on the bench. Obviously a big call, especially given the transfer fee that Di Maria cost but it ultimately proved the correct decision.
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Falcao could have come on earlier in the game because Rooney was not at his best at times and could have used Falcao for help going forward, but van Gaal decided to only bring Falcao on in the 77th minute and while he was unable to get on the scoresheet, he did show a good work-rate and desire to do something right at least.
However, it was the introduction of the Argentine that allowed Rooney to score the wonder goal, and he showed that despite his run of bad form, he still has bags of talent. Di Maria sent in a lovely cross for Rooney to latch onto and did so in fine fashion to condemn Villa to defeat.
It leaves the manager in a tricky position because both Falcao and Di Maria are obviously good players but since the team have been playing so well without him it would be detrimental to the side to introduce them for the sake of it.
3) Fellaini quiet
Having been lauded as Manchester United’s revelation this season, even as far as being described by Louis van Gaal as ‘undroppable’. Yet against Villa, Fellaini was actually rather quiet.
This does not mean he should be dropped, just that he wasn’t as his best. He did show a few good signs, linking up with the midfield but it was not a good game for him compared to some of them this season. Fellaini was taken of in the 77′ minute for Falcao, having been man marked out of the game for much of it. Our match ratings saw him being rated at a 6/10.
He did have one or two chances but really Aston Villa seemed to make it their mission to contain him and did so accordingly. So it wasn’t really his fault and if anything is a sign of his growing reputation as a real important figure for United.
Hopefully this under the radar performance will make him even more pumped for the next game – the big one against Manchester City.
Other Takes:
– That Rooney goal should definitely be up for Goal of the Month!
– The game reminded everyone that Joe Cole still exists, bit of a ‘who’ now, having only played 8 league games for Villa this season.
– Villa did score but the focus of the game has meant that goal has been rather insignificant. De Gea will be disappointed not to keep a clean sheet. Rojo did have a particularly good game in defence however.
– Remember when Hererra was sat on the bench? Nor sure that will happen again anytime soon.