Match Report: Manchester United 2-0 Aston Villa | OneFootball

It was a sweet ending to what was a sour season as Manchester United cruised to a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season.

While Man United endured a painful season to say the least, they put in an admirable, even passionate, performance for the Old Trafford crowd to earn what was a rare victory.

United got the match off to a blistering start, with Noussair Mazraoui cutting the ball back from the right to Mason Mount in the centre of the box. Emi Martinez parried Mount’s blistering effort away, with Rasmus Hojlund crossing the rebound back to Mount, who was yet again denied by a fine save.

Barely two minutes later, Amad Diallo found Bruno Fernandes in the box, whose shot was fired straight at the goalkeeper.

In the 12th minute, United came close to scoring yet again when Mount crossed the ball from the left flank to Hojlund in the centre. While Hojlund failed to make contact, Amad made up for his error, taking a shot at the bottom left corner that breezed just inches wide.

Just before the 20-minute mark, it appeared as if the visitors were in on goal with a slick counter-attack. While Ollie Watkins was on the end of a threatening through ball, Ayden Heaven did brilliantly to dispossess the striker, although Villa were flagged offside.

Then, disaster struck for Mazraoui, who stopped in his tracks and seemed to be harbouring a hamstring injury. He was then replaced by Diogo Dalot.

It was a decent start to the match for the substitute, who received a sublime cross from Harry Maguire, which he proceeded to volley into the left post.

Over half an hour in, United came close to scoring yet again, getting deep into Villa’s territory. Dalot cut a pass back to Hojlund, who was poorly positioned and thus unable to put away what would have been a surefire goal.

Mount then took a shot from outside the box that was neatly curved goalward, only for the keeper to make a well-timed catch.

After two minutes of stoppage time were announced, Villa played a disastrous back pass to the keeper that Hojlund was able to intercept. With the Dane going one-on-one with Martinez, the Villa shotstopper blatantly slammed into the striker to bring him crashing down.

There was no hesitation on the referee’s part as he brandished a red card, bringing the visitors down to ten men.

Somewhere in the scuffle, Amad was shown a yellow card for what must have been arguing with the referee.

Despite complete dominance, United were unable to produce the finished product, going into the half-time break level with the visitors as a result. This has been a constant issue for United throughout the season, which manager Ruben Amorim would surely look to overcome in the second half.

When United returned to the field, Kobbie Mainoo came on in place of Dalot, who reportedly suffered an injury.

In the 49th minute, a corner from Fernandes found the head of Casemiro, who popped the ball to Hojlund. While the Dane headed the ball into the net, the flag was raised for offside.

A few minutes later, Hojlund failed to take advantage of another sitter. Mainoo brilliantly turned over the ball with a tackle inside Villa’s box. When he passed to Hojlund, however, the striker failed to control the ball, allowing it to roll away. In reality, all he had to do was tap the ball into the goal.

Twice in a row, in almost duplicate motions, Hojlund received a ball on the right and broke through the defence. On both occasions, he fell to the ground and fired a shot at goal, which the keeper comfortably saved. The Dane has continued to lack any trace of a striker’s instinct.

66 minutes in, veteran defender Jonny Evans took to the pitch to replace Heaven, who hobbled off with what looked like yet another potential injury. Christian Eriksen replaced Mount.

With a little over 20 minutes to play, Fernandes took a speculative effort from outside the box, which drifted just wide of the far post.

Moments later, Eriksen played a neat pass to Fernandes, who took another shot from the edge of the box that also flew wide.

With 18 minutes to play, it appeared as if the visitors had scored a shock goal against the run of play. Following an audacious long ball from the Villa goalkeeper, Morgan Rogers and Altay Bayindir raced toward the loose ball after Maguire got his head to the keeper’s long pass. Despite Bayindir getting a hand on the ball, Rogers managed to drag the ball out and put it into the net.

Soon after Villa started to celebrate, VAR intervened and disallowed the goal for a foul on the keeper. It was a lucky escape for United.

Finally, in the 76th minute, United found a much-deserved breakthrough.

From the right flank, Amad raced into the box, getting on the end of a surgical cross from Fernandes. The winger made no mistake as he headed the ball into the back of the net to hand United the lead.

In the 81st minute, Hojlund made way for Chido Obi. It was another difficult afternoon for the striker, who would hope to improve during the summer.

With six minutes to go, United were awarded a penalty when Ian Maatsen kicked out Amad’s legs in the box.

While Fernandes is typically expected to take spot kicks, the honour was given to Eriksen, who is expected to leave the club.

It was a sublime finish by Eriksen, who sent the keeper the wrong way with a thunderous shot. 2-0 to United, and a sweet ending to Eriksen’s tenure at Old Trafford.

Moments before the final whistle, Evans almost scored a goal of his own in his final appearance, heading the ball goalward only for the keepr to tip it out for a corner.

Following eight minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle, bringing the curtain down on what had been a difficult season for United fans to bear.

While Amorim and his players will need to put in a massive amount of work on the training pitch this summer to improve their fortunes next season, it was at least an enjoyable afternoon for the Old Trafford faithful who were treated to a rare and satisfying victory.

Starting XI: Bayindir, Lindelof, Mazraoui, Maguire, Mount, Fernandes, Hojlund, Dorgu, Amad, Casemiro, Heaven Subs: Dalot, Mainoo, Evans, Eriksen, Obi

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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