Looking at Liverpool in the white of his eyes. Manchester United have recently become a serious contender for the English Premier League in light of the situation in the table, and tonight (Friday) they continued their momentum when they beat Aston Villa 1: 2 in the 17th round. In doing so, the Red Devils compared the number of points in the table to that of the leader, but they are still in second place due to the inferior goal difference.
Ola Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are in a great period, with their last six games in all competitions they have recorded five wins and one draw away to Leicester. In two rounds of the Premier League, on January 17, she will face the reigning champion for a huge season game. On the other hand, the loser this evening also recorded a good positive streak recently with three wins in the last five league games (until the meeting against United), and is currently in sixth place with a missing game.
The scorers were Anthony Marcial (40), Bertrand Traore (58) and Bruno Fernandez (62, Pendel). Overall the evening was an outstanding game at Old Trafford, with a huge amount of situations recorded on both sides and also the two goalkeepers, David de Gea and Emiliano Martinez, provided a performance. United’s Spaniard even saved a very hard ball in extra time and prevented a dramatic equalizer.
Also, in today’s early game, West Ham beat Everton 0-1, with a four-game winning streak. The Hammers came back to win after four Premier League games without a win, effectively creating a situation of unusual density at the top of the table with six teams having 26 points. Thomas Soček scored the first goal of 2021 in the 86th minute.
Happy New Year 🥳#EVEWHU
– West Ham United (@WestHam) January 1, 2021
Compositions:
Manchester United: David de Haa; Arun Van Bisaka, Harry Maguire, Eric Bay, Luke Shaw; Fred (Axel Tuanzaba, 94), Paul Pogba, Scott McTominy (Nemanja Matic, 65), Bruno Fernandez (Daniel James, 87); Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez; Matti Cash, Azri Kunsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Target; Douglas Louise, John McGinn, Bertrand Traore (Jacob Ramsey, 79), Jack Grilish, Anwar al-Ghazi (Keenan Davis, 84); Maybe Watkins.
the progress of the game
In the tenth minute, Anthony Martial got into a good kick situation and sent the ball into the box. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez flew in and saved for the corner. Three minutes later David de Gea also recorded a save after a good attack by Villa that ended in a raise by Matty Cash from the right foot for John McGuinn, who kicked a volley and got a corner on the other side. In the 16th minute we saw a simply outstanding attack by United, and in the end it ended in a kick by Fred over the goal, after an exchange of dedication in the extension area.
The host kept pressing and in the 25th minute Paul Pogba reached a kicking position, but his ball went out. In the 37th minute, after a few more calm minutes, Bruno Fernandez was close to the goal with a sharp ball that passed by the right beam. Three minutes later, the goal came – a good break on the right wing of Arun Van Bisaka led to his elevation to Martial’s head, and it hit the net. 0: 1 United! It was also the result of the half.
At the start of the second half the visitors tried to respond, and in the 52nd minute maybe Watkins squeezed a big save from David de Gea. The striker received a raise from Jack Grilish, and slammed well into the frame, but the Spaniard displayed good reflexes. Two minutes later it was Anwar al-Ghazi who tried his luck with a kick from the edge of the box after a quick pass attack, but it went out. Marcus Rashford, on the other hand, got a good chance inside the extension after passing two guards, but failed to subdue Martinez.
In the 58th minute, the pressure of the Willans paid off with the equalizer, when Grillish found Bertrand Traore in the box, and it continued with a kick close to the net. 1: 1! The tie didn’t last long as Paul Pogba failed in the box and referee Michael Oliver did not hesitate and pointed to the penalty spot. Bruno Fernandez returned the advantage to the host when he was accurate in the 62nd minute. 1: 2 United! Just four minutes later Rashford was given a chance to score the third, but his kick was too weak and straight into the hands of Martinez.
In the 71st minute Martial penetrated well into the box and sent a powerful kick with his left foot, Martinez again prevented the third goal. In the ensuing attack on the other side de Hae provided a not-so-bad save from al-Ghazi’s kick. Paul Pogba should probably have put his team up another goal after 74 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by Eduardo Alonso kept the visitors in the game. A huge miss by the Frenchman.
In the 77th minute Martinez provided another simply fantastic save from a great Fernandez kick from outside the box. The goalkeeper flew and headed to the crossbar and out. A minute later Rashford sent a bomb from that Fernandez standout, and this time it went inches above the crossbar. In the 83rd minute Villa was close to 2: 2, with a shot on Tyrone Mings’ court and it was almost sent to the frame. Another shot from Matty Cash from the same position sent the ball a little further a minute later. In the 88th minute, substitute Daniel James squeezed a save from Martins, who was simply fantastic tonight. Also excellent was David de Gea, who in the 93rd minute provided a simply wonderful save from a very dangerous kick off the field of cash.
