Manchester United’s unbeaten run of nine games has come to an end after they were comfortably dismantled by an Unai Emery-inspired Aston Villa side.
Erik ten Hag’s men made the trip to Villa Park, where United had not lost since 1995, but were second best from the first whistle and deservingly lost the game.
Aston Villa claimed a two-goal lead before the clock had hit 15 minutes and ultimately, that’s what cost United the game and the chance to further pull away from their top-four rivals.
At least that’s what United defender Luke Shaw thinks, who admitted that the Reds were simply not good enough on the day.
“We lost the game in the first 20 minutes of each half, we knew they were going to come out, new manager and the crowd would be behind them,” the defender told BBC Sport reporter Shamoon Hafez.
“In games like this, if you start slowly then we will lose the game. We weren’t good enough. We always going to believe we can win the game, even at 2-0 down. We spoke about starting well in the second half but conceded again, then it’s a mountain to climb and the game is done.
“We started sloppy, gave the ball away too easily, that is not good enough. We suffered today, we did not deserve to win.”
Shaw’s late first-half strike may go down as an own-goal but it came at the end of a positive 15-minute period – the only spell where United were better than their opposition.
Ten Hag now needs to pick his side up as they face Aston Villa again on Thursday, this time in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford.
SN’s verdict…
Shaw is completely right in his assessment – United were not good enough on the day and it would have been harsh on Villa if they didn’t leave the game with all three points.
United have done well in the big games this season, with wins over Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal proving that there is immense quality in the squad. But there is a pattern emerging and it’s very similar to the one under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The struggles have come against the teams in the lower half of the table and although Ten Hag will eventually get it right, the Dutchman is not blessed with time.
