Manchester United booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the narrowly contested game at Old-Trafford.
Scott McTominay scored the game’s only goal after just eight minutes, but Villa will be left to rue a slew of lost chances and a controversial VAR decision that ruled out Danny Ings’ second-half equaliser.
McTominay was awarded man of the match, but he was up against stiff opposition. United is struggling with and without the ball, and Villa will be looking forward to meeting United in the English Premier League again on Saturday. With Manchester United’s current gameplay, it’s looking difficult for them.
Is United nothing without Ronaldo?
Ronaldo couldn’t play the match because of injury, and United was outplayed to the point that they had only 37% possession after 65 minutes. Whenever United did get control of the ball, they missed out on some goal scoring opportunities.
Pass after pass snuck past its intended recipient, landing on a white Villa jersey or the advertising boards. So much for coach Rangnick assisting United with game control.
With 20 minutes remaining, the coach was compelled to substitute his striker, Edinson Cavani, with Donny van de Beek, a midfielder, because the Club was choking so much in the game.
Ever since Ronaldo’s much-awaited transfer to United, the Club has been playing well only when he was on the playing 11.
Even though United won the match against Villa without Ronaldo, the performance was still below average and would not help the Club in the higher qualifying matches.
McTominay proves to be Valuable
McTominay had a busy evening attempting to keep Villa supporters quiet, and while the Villa midfielders did have their way in the middle of the park at times, Scott was able to keep them quiet for long stretches of the game.
It was expected, given how much of the night had been spent chasing shadows. McTominay, along with Raphael Varane, was one of the few players to receive any praise, not just because he scored the game’s decisive goal against Watford in the third round last season.
McTominay may not have a bunch of new sponsors or tens of millions of social media followers, but he is dependable and functional, and United could use a little of that right now. The biggest roar of the night came when he was announced as man of the match.
Rashford’s Bad Luck Continues
Marcus Rashford had a terrible night, shooting straight at Martinez from a tight angle and failing to capitalise on a Mason Greenwood shot that bobbled towards him as the Villa goalkeeper struggled to grasp it.
By the time he was substituted by Jesse Lingard four minutes from time, the England player had appeared to be in a state of complete exhaustion.
He hasn’t scored in 11 games and hasn’t done so since converting in a 3-0 win over Tottenham on October 30.
Marcus Rashford missed a chance just before half-time, racing past two Villa defenders to the loose ball on the edge of the area.
After toiling against Villa, Rangnick is puzzled as to why Marcus Rashford is struggling to make an impact. The England international made some questionable decisions during the match, and his substitution was received with sarcastic cheers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Manchester United is not in its best form right now; They had never been a club that plays a very loose game and only managed to score 1 goal. The players must gear up, and the Club should not depend on Cristiano Ronaldo.
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