Aston Villa picked up a comfortable three points on Sunday afternoon, after they swept aside a disjointed Manchester United side at Villa Park. 


Going into the game, all eyes were on Unai Emery as he took charge for the first time, and within twelve minutes the game was already put beyond United’s reach. 
 

The home side took the lead after just seven minutes through a smart finish from a composed Leon Bailey, before full-back Lucas Digne struck an excellent free-kick to double their advantage. 
 

United struggled to get into first gear, but found a way back into the game right before the break when a deflected effort from Luke Shaw hit Jacob Ramsey before flying past the Villa keeper. 
 

However, the home side responded brilliantly and within five minutes of the second-half, Ramsey got himself on the right side of the score-sheet with a brilliant strike to seal the three points for the hosts.

 

  • Starting line-ups

Aston Villa 

E. Martinez (GK) ; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne ; Dendoncker, Luiz, Ramsey ; Buendia, Watkins, Bailey (4-3-3) 

Manchester United

De Gea (GK) ; Dalot, L. Martinez, Lindelof, Shaw ; Casemiro, Van De Beek, Eriksen ; Rashford, Ronaldo, Garancho (4-3-3) 

 

  • Story of the match

With the new manager bounce firmly in their stride, Aston Villa started brilliantly and dominated the early possession within the first five minutes. Similarly, Leon Bailey began causing the visitors some issues, something that continued throughout his time on the pitch. 
 

After seven minutes, Aston Villa took the lead in brilliant fashion. A long ball from the back found Ollie Watkins on the left-hand side, he used his physicality to fend off the defenders, before finding Ramsey in space.
From there, Ramsey played a forward pass into the path of Leon Bailey who struck his first time effort beautifully into the far corner to make it 1-0. 
 

Within four minutes, the home side doubled their lead and it is mainly down to some brilliant forward pressing. The Villa forward’s forced Martinez into a mistake, which created a loose ball which Jacob Ramsey attempted to win, before being brought down by Luke Shaw.

Up stepped Lucas Digne, who struck a brilliant effort, up and over the wall into the back of the net to make it two goals for Aston Villa. 
 

Despite being two goals behind, Manchester United still struggled to create anything, and almost found themselves conceding a third goal. Bailey continued to be a nightmare for the home side, as he beat Shaw to find Emiliano Buendia, but his effort went over the bar. 
 

It took the away side eighteen minutes to register their first positive piece of football, when Christian Eriksen found Garancho on the far side, however despite beating his man, his cross was too close to the goalkeeper. 
 

The next twenty minutes was definitely United’s best spell, with several corners being created but still they struggled to find a way to break down a resolute Aston Villa defence. 
 

When you are on top, you have got to take your chances and that is something that Eric Ten Haag’s side failed to do. Firstly, Garancho beat his man but was denied by a smart stop from Martinez.
Within seconds, he was called into action again as a cross from Eriksen finds the head of Cristiano Ronaldo, and he was somehow denied by the legs of the Villa keeper. 
 

The last piece of action in the first-half, saw Manchester United pull themselves back into the game with a huge stroke of luck. A cross was half-cleared by the home side and the ball fell to Luke Shaw, who’s effort took a huge deflection off Jacob Ramsey before flying into the far corner. 
 

Half time: Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United

 

Within three minutes of the restart, Aston Villa restored their two goal margin. A long-ball from Tyrone Mings found Ollie Watkins on the left-hand side, he raced forward before pulling the ball back to the unmarked Jacob Ramsey who smashed the effort past David De Gea. 
 

The concern for Manchester United was the constant use of the long-ball, which is especially unusual given the height of both Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa for the home side. This was in part due to a disappointing midfield display from the away side. 
 

The game didn’t go without the use of VAR on the hour mark. Following a shot from Garancho, there was a huge coming together between Cristiano Ronaldo and Tyrone Mings. Despite a wrestle, both players were booked and the game continued with the corner being cleared. 
 

Just three minutes later, Leon Bailey was elbowed three times by L. Martinez for Manchester United but somehow no booking or check was conducted. A huge stroke of luck again for the away side. 
 

Eric Ten Haag, did roll the dice with a triple substitution, which seemed to bring life back into the away side. Marcus Rashford failed to steer a header towards goal, Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick hit the wall and Diogo Dalot failed to shoot when through on goal, a perfect summary of a disappointing afternoon for the away side. 
 

Those efforts proved to be the final chances within the game, as both sides were left resulting to half-chances and it just seemed that Manchester United had given up as the game came to a conclusion. 
 

Full time: Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United 

 

  • Player of the match

Despite only playing seventy minutes, Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey was the star of the show. Every time he got on the ball, he had the beating of the Manchester United defence and constantly looked like creating chances. He also added the games opening goal as well as helping to force a mistake which led to the second goal. It was a top display from the Jamaican international, possibly one of his best performances for the club to date. 
 

  • Where does that result leave both sides? 

Victory for Aston Villa, see’s them climb up to 13th in the Premier League table, something which Unai Emery will be utterly delighted about that’s for sure. 

Meanwhile, Manchester United remain 5th in the table, despite defeat but are left with more problems then resolutions following Sunday’s meeting against Aston Villa.