Aston Villa and Manchester United shared the spoils in an underwhelming 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
With both sides having been in European action in midweek, albeit to varying degrees of success, there was a lethargic feel to Sunday's encounter.
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Bruno Fernandes almost broke the deadlock midway through the second half – the United skipper rattling the crossbar with a 25-yard free-kick.
Marcus Rashford, who was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off, and Youri Tielemans also went close, but neither team were able to find the breakthrough.
Unai Emery's Villa sit fifth on 14 points, while United are 14th on eight points, which is their lowest-ever tally after seven matches of a Premier League campaign.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
11 | +5 | 19 |
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
11 | +4 | 19 |
| 7 |
Fulham
FUL
|
11 | +3 | 18 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
11 | +2 | 18 |
| 9 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
11 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 |
Spurs
TOT
|
11 | +10 | 16 |
| 11 |
Brentford
BRE
|
11 | 0 | 16 |
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
11 | 0 | 15 |
| 13 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
11 | 0 | 15 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
11 | -6 | 12 |
How the match unfolded
Morgan Rogers spurned the first chance on eight minutes when he fired wide from inside the box, before Jaden Philogene sliced narrowly off target from distance.
The hosts were forced into an early defensive change when Ezri Konsa limped off, while United followed suit at half-time as Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui made way.
Tielemans brought a fine save out of Andre Onana after Emiliano Martinez had thwarted Rashford at the other end – with the Villa fans subsequently left incensed when the United forward escaped a second booking after a rash foul on Leon Bailey.
The woodwork came to Villa's rescue in the 68th minute when Fernandes struck the crossbar with his dipping free-kick, though Philogene may have won it in stoppage time had Diogo Dalot not got in the way of his goalbound strike, and that lack of cutting edge when it mattered most was ultimately the tale of the game for both sides, though.
Villa unable to build on Bayern momentum
Villa had plenty of reasons to be optimistic ahead of welcoming a struggling United to the west midlands.
Emery’s side were fresh from their best start to a Premier League season in 16 years, as well as a famous UEFA Champions League victory over Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
However, they were just unable to build on that momentum.
It looked like they would after Rogers’ early chance, but the injury to Konsa seemed to stop them in their tracks and allow United to gain a foothold in the match.
Even the introduction of super sub Jhon Duran was unable to provide the attacking spark they required.
Philogene will perhaps look back on his blocked shot at the end and think he could have shown a bit more composure – the winger having gone for power rather than placement, with Dalot getting in the way.
Nevertheless, Villa extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions, while keeping them firmly in touch of the top four heading into the international break.
Will Ten Hag get more time?
This is United’s worst points tally after seven matches of a league season since the 1989/90 campaign, and it is safe to say it has not been a good week for Erik ten Hag.
United have generally been slow out of the blocks under Ten Hag in the Premier League, with nine points from the opening seven matches of his two previous seasons in charge, but will the club’s leadership give him the time to put it right this season?
After Thursday’s draw with FC Porto, Ten Hag made changes in the heart of defence, but one of them – Maguire – was forced off at half-time through injury, with Mazraoui also making way, before Victor Lindelof and Matthijs de Ligt came on.
At the back, United generally limited Villa to hold out for their third successive clean sheet away from home, with veteran Jonny Evans excellent.
However, aside from Rashford and Fernandes’ attempts, they struggled to generate a decent attacking threat, particularly from open play, and have now failed to score in three consecutive league fixtures.
While it was definitely an improvement on what United turned in against Tottenham Hotspur last week, the question now is whether Ten Hag will still have the club’s backing.
Club reports
Aston Villa report | Man Utd report
What managers said
Unai Emery: “In the last moments of the game we were close to scoring a goal with the chances we had with Morgan [Rogers] and Jaden Philogene. I can say that the draw is fair for both teams.”
Erik ten Hag: "This is our fourth clean sheet of this season and that tells something about the control we have in and out of possession, we are organised very well. In many games so far we create loads of chances – today we didn’t create that much, but we had the chances, with [Marcus] Rashford before half-time and after half-time.”
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Key facts
This was Aston Villa’s first goalless draw at Villa Park in the Premier League since May 2021 (0-0 v Everton under Dean Smith), with today being their 62nd such home match since then.
Villa have only lost one of their last four Premier League home matches against Man Utd (W1 D2), taking more points from these fixtures (five) than they did from their previous 16 home matches against them in the top-flight between 2002/03 and 2020/21 (four).
Man Utd have scored just five goals in their opening seven Premier League matches of 2024/25 – only in 1972/73 (four) have they ever netted fewer through their first seven fixtures of a top-flight campaign.
United have failed to score in each of their last three Premier League matches, equalling their worst run without a goal in the competition under Erik ten Hag (also a run of three in both December 2023 and April 2023).
