Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa: Player ratings for the Red Devils as Fernandes goal enough to seal routine win | Premier League 2022-23ย
Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, courtesy of a first-half strike from Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese latched onto a loose ball after Emiliano Martinez parried a strike from Marcus Rashford straight into his path, and he fired a powerful shot into the far corner.
The Red Devils were the better side all throughout, dominating possession and creating better chances, but some wastefulness kept them from scoring more goals.
FT: Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa.
Another big step made by Erik ten Hag and his team towards securing top 4! https://t.co/qeyv55rcQ0
Aston Villa had a good chance of scoring, but Emiliano Buendia fired straight at David de Gea in the closing stages of the opening stanza, while Douglas Luiz saw a shot cleared off the line by Victor Lindelof in the 81st minute.
For the first time in eight Premier League games, Aston Villa lost a game, while Manchester United edged closer to Champions League qualification by consolidating their position in fourth.
Here are the player ratings for Manchester United:
David de Gea - 7/10
The Manchester United custodian was rarely tested in goal, but when called into action, he produced a vital save on Emiliano Buendia in the first half.
Diego Dalot - 7.5/10
Highly impactful at both ends of the pitch. With four clearances and one interception, he was solid in defense but also helped on the offensive end with crosses and link-up plays.
Victor Lindelof - 7.5/10
Excellent positional awareness and reading of the game to keep everything tidy at the back.
Luke Shaw - 7/10
A clumsy moment early on nearly led to a Villa goal, but Shaw recovered thereafter and had a fine outing.
Tyrell Malacia - 7/10
The 23-year-old made an excellent sliding challenge on John McGinn in the first half and laid a dangerous cross into the box late on too. A much improved performance from last time out.
Casemiro - 7.5/10
He created the winning goal with a long ball over the top of Villa's defense, but much to Manchester United's chagrin, he wasted two chances to score after the break.
Christian Eriksen - 6/10
He wasted several chances and looked sloppy in possession, too.
Jadon Sancho - 7.5/10
Sancho constantly tested Villa's defense with his dribbles and electric pace, and Ashley Young struggled to deal with it.
Marcel Sabitzer - 6/10
The Austrian has been missing his shooting boots for a while, and that continued here with another wasteful performance.
Bruno Fernandes - 8/10
Bruno Fernandes scored the winner for Manchester United with a thumping finish into the far corner and helped stretch out Villa's defense with his movements.
Bruno Fernandesโ game by numbers vs. Aston Villa:
52 touches
9 final third passes completed
3 ground duels won
3 ball recoveries
2/3 tackles won
2 long balls completed
1 key pass
1 big chance created
1 goal
Magnifico. ๐ช https://t.co/V4IPiRqEWl
Marcus Rashford - 8/10
He made the most of Villa's high line as Rashford broke through the middle by sitting on the last defender. This helped Fernandes score his goal, as the former's shot after such a run was parried into the Portuguese's path by Emiliano Martinez.
Substitutes
Fred (76' for Eriksen) - 6.5/10
He created a good chance late on, but Antony wasted it.
Antony (76' for Sancho) - 6/10
His first touch for that Fred chance was poor, allowing Martinez to calmly collect the ball.
Harry Maguire (86' for Sabitzer) - 6.5/10
He made one vital clearance in the closing stages.
Anthony Martial (86' for Rashford) - 6.5/10
The Frenchman blocked a powerful effort from Callum Chambers in the final seconds of the match.