5 talkings points after United knock Aston Villa out of FA Cup

 

Manchester United faced off against Aston Villa in the FA Cup for the 13th time in the club’s illustrious history. A mouth-watering clash awaited as United looked to shake off the disappointment of the Wolves calamity. While recent events had left very little optimism amongst the home support, an overwhelming 10-2 FA Cup-winning record against the Birmingham side was a reassuring omen. In fact, United had not tasted defeat against their opponents in the competition since 04 May 1957.

Steven Gerrard’s side arrived in Manchester without a win in their previous two matches, and a total of six losses from their last ten. Despite what is being painted as a cultivation of Gerrard’s vision, Villa were very much the underdog in this 3rd round tie.

United had won their last nine FA Cup home matches by an aggregate score of 20-2, and were also unbeaten in their last eleven at Old Trafford in the competition. In contrast, Villa had lost their last six FA Cup matches, their longest ever losing run in the competition.

As is usually the case in Manchester, the knives are well and truly out for manager and players alike. Forget social media and redundant speculation in the press, if you’re interested in showing the world that you actually care about this football club, you’ve got 90+ minutes to let the world see. That’s the simplest of messages and it doesn’t require a tactical genius to deliver it. It was entirely up to the XI men to deliver. Old Trafford expected!

With the omission of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, United were still able to field an extremely strong team. It was a team that was built to hold a high position in the opposition half, with the inclusion of Diogo Dalot emphasising the desire to get in behind the Villa backline. In what was a welcome sight to the home crowd, United lined out in a 4231 to begin the game, with Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood hugging the touch lines.

The shift to a familiar setup allowed much early success. Scott McTominay and Fred controlled the centre of the park and switched the ball regularly to either wing. Rashford looked back to his regular self out wide and supplied an early headache for the travelling side. Despite the early joy down either side, it was the familiar partnership of McFred that broke the deadlock in the 9th minute. A very well-worked team effort, culminating in a sumptuous Fred cross being headed into the net by his partner. A deserved lead after an opening period of domination.