Ander Herrera's brace against Aston Villa gave Manchester United another vital three points in a 3-1 win as a spectacular stoppage-time finish from Wayne Rooney saw off Tim Sherwood's men after Christian Benteke halved the deficit in the 80th minute.
The first incident in the game was a penalty appeal from Wayne Rooney as Antonio Valencia fired a long ball towards Marouane Fellaini. He flicked the ball into the path of Rooney and Ciaran Clark put him under pressure and clearly put a hand onto Rooney but, no decision was made.
Villa had their first attack with Gabriel Agbonlahor picking the ball up in the Manchester United area as he took the ball away from Phil Jones and the keeper but, he was unable to slot the ball into the net and hit it wide.
Manchester United’s next chance came from Ashley Young as he ran into the Villa box with a driven run before he tried to slot the ball across to Juan Mata. Clark did well as he managed to get a foot onto the cross and the defence cleared the ball.
Christian Benteke tried to catch David de Gea off his guard around the 15th minute mark but, de Gea saw that he was taking a long shot and it was a simple save for him.
In the 21st minute, United tried a different kind of attack playing the ball to the back of the box where Fellaini was. The cross was from Valencia who chipped the ball towards the Belgian. The header was on-target but, Brad Guzan easily saved it.
The best chance for Manchester united in the first 30 minutes came from centre back Marcos Rojo. He picked the ball up around 30-yards away from goal and had a few yards of space to deal with. He hit the ball with an excellent driven effort and Guzan could only just tip the ball over the bar.
Villa weren’t the best team in the first half as Manchester united pressed the Villa defence constantly and kept possession really well. Villa struggled to even make a chance for themselves as the United defence closed down the attackers quickly.
The pace of the game slowed down after the first half an hour as the game stayed goalless but, Man United seemed to be dominating the game.
Alan Hutton seemed to have a problem with his ankle as he went down and had to go off an receive some treatment. He came on just a minute later with some strapping over his ankle. It didn’t seem to affect him that mush as he stopped the next United attack.
Aston villa tried to go on the counter attack but Jones saw it and headed the ball away. Young took the ball forward and Guzan managed to get in front of the cross and punch the ball away, towards the centre of the pitch.
United started to look even more dominant in the 40th minute, as they managed a double effort. Young ran forward again and Jores Okore had to jump in the way of the ball as Young took a shot from a tight angle and was certainly going on target.
Then, Okore tried to clear the ball and Daley Blind tracked the ball down and took a driven shot towards goal, it got a deflection on the way and it was a tamed save by Guzan.
Ander Herrera finally broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute. Young again started out the move passing the ball towards Blind. Who ran past him on the overlap. He passed the ball into the box towards Herrera who took a touch and hit the ball into the bottom corner to make the game 1-0.
United finished the half strong as in the added time from the second half, they managed a couple of chances. Rooney missed the cross by Blind as he couldn’t quite get the touch. Clark tried to clear the ball but, Rojo took the ball and hit it straight at Guzan.
The second half started with Aston Villa on the attack with Andreas Weimann. He charged into the box past Antonio Valencia and passed it back to Benteke. The Belgian wasn’t ready for the ball and lost his footing for the shot and was unable to test de Gea.
United first chance of the second half was just wide as in the 52nd minute, Juan Mata hit the ball to the left wing of the pitch and Young collected the ball and hit a curling shot at Guzan. The shot ended up inches wide of the post.
In the 55th minute, Rooney produced some excellent as he dribbled past one player and gained a free-kick 30 yards away from goal. Juan Mata stepped up to take it but it was hit way wide.
Mata and Valencia worked well in the 62st minute as they created some problems down the right wing. Valencia chipped the ball into the box and Fellaini headed the ball into the ground but the bounce was awkward. Guzan managed to turn it over the bar.
The game went quite at this point with not many shots taking place. The game became a possession game. United dominated the possession but, Villa were still in it making some attacking moves with their passes.
Rooney had the chance to double United’s lead in the 69th minute as Carlos Sanchez gave the ball straight to him. He missed the target as he drifted inside of the defender.
Leandro Bacuna pressured the hosts as he swung in a free-kick and Okore managed to get the ball at the back post but, he was unable to guide his header goalwards.
In the 79th minute, Rooney made the game 2-0 with a brilliant goal. Substitute Angel di Maria ran down the left wing and placed the ball to the back of the Villa box where Rooney was placed. He smade his leg stretch to its full length and did a perfect touch to bring the ball down. He then volleyed the ball into the top left corner and gave Guzan no chance.
Villa had an instant reply as Christian Benteke made the game 2-1. They won a corner in the 80th minute and they played it low into the box, Benteke met the ball and drilled it underneath de Gea. The players were in shock on how de Gea didn’t manage to save that shot.
Manchester United finished off the game in the 92nd minute. Rooney did well to win the ball back near the middle of the pitch, he ran the ball towards the edge of the box and passed the ball off to Mata on the right wing. Mata passed the ball back to Herrera who calmly placed a side footed finish into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Machester United are now third in the Premier League table after they have won 13 out of their last 15 games at Home. Villahave now lost nine out of their last 11 games in the league.
| Manchester United (3) | Aston Villa (1) | ||
 | |||
| de Gea | 5 | Guzan | 5 |
| Valencia | 6 | Hutton | 4 |
| Rojo | 6 | Clark | 5 |
| Jones | 5 | Okore | 6 |
| Blind | 6 | Lowton | 5 |
| Herrera | 8 | N'Zogbia | 5 |
| Carrick | 5 | Sanchez | 6 |
| Mata | 5 | Delph | 5 |
| Fellaini | 6 | Wiemann | 5 |
| Young | 7 | Benteke | 7 |
| Rooney | 7 | Agbonlahor | 5 |
| Substitutes | |||
| di Maria | 6 | Bacuna | 5 |
| Falcao | 5 | Baker | 5 |
| Cole | 6 | ||