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Another Premier League victory for Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer’s sentinels brought Brun Fernandes a spot-on shot from the penalty spot.
January 02, 2021, 00:00
It was impossible to find a better gift for a true fan to start the calendar year by watching a live broadcast of a soccer game. The English Premier League took a bit of pity on us this season by not putting the first matches of 2021 in the early hours. But what was the fight selection! Everton and Leicester played the opening act of the Old Trafford clash between Manchester United and Birmingham’s Aston Villa. All four teams were vying for places in the potential UEFA competition zone at the end of 2020, so the battles promised to be intense.
The “red devils” and the “lions” performed different tasks in the reporting game. Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer’s team rightly claimed to have caught up with Liverpool in terms of points scored in the standings. At the same time, the limit for Dean Smith’s team was to shorten United’s distance to one point. However, when it comes to fighting at the top of the rankings, even those gradual advances can be considered a sufficient success.
The quite high dynamics already from the opening whistle from both sides voluntarily attracted the attention of the audience, especially in the context of the slow first half of the game in Liverpool. The hosts were the first to show aggression in other people’s possessions, but Martínez, in a spectacular jump, repelled a blow with a spin from Martial in the 11th minute. Already in the next retaliatory attack by Villa McGinn he tested De Gea’s reaction with a rally hit at the end of Cash’s serve from the right flank. The team carried out the zeroing successfully, after which the next part of individual bouts in midfield followed.
Solskjaer’s team made another approach to the goal closer to half-time, which was quite successful. A quick attack from the right flank turned into a Wan-Bissaki shot at the near post, which Mings was unable to intercept, and Martial headed Martinez off from close range. It was a quite logical result of the first half, because the “Red Devils” little by little began to regain control shortly before the scoring episode.
United came in quite difficult in the second half. Villa settled firmly on his own attacking flanks, as a result of which entry signals began to flow into De Gea’s penalty area from all sides. In the 58th minute, the guests showed cunning in a quick free-kick down the left wing, after which no one could prevent Grilish from finding the only Traore with a cross at the angle furthest from the goalkeeper’s corner.
However, the “lions” did not have time to rejoice at the success, as they were awarded a rather controversial penalty at their gates, allegedly for a foul by Douglas Louis against Pogba. The VAR did not find an error from the referee in this episode, so Bruno Fernandes had another chance to hit the goal of his team’s rivals in the Premier League, and he hit the target by hitting in the lower left corner.
The remaining time of the fight was remembered for the lightning attacks from both sides, which regularly ended in dangerous punches, but the goalkeepers worked at the limit of concentration. United showed serious aggression around the 75th minute, while the guests reserved the right for the final round. However, neither team achieved the desired success during this period, so the final victory was assigned to the home team.
In the next round, Manchester United will play away at Burnley, while Aston Villa will host Tottenham from London.
United manchester – Aston Villa 2: 1
Goals: Martial, 40, Fernandes, 62 (pen.) – Traore, 58
Manchester United: De Gea – Van Bissaka, Maguire, Bayeux, Shaw – Fred (Tuanzebe, 90 + 4) – Pogba, McTominey (Matic, 64) – Fernandes (James, 86) – Rashford, Martial.
Aston Villa: Martínez – Cash, Ngoyo, Mings, Target – McGinn, Douglas Louis – Traore (Ramsey, 79), Grilish, El Gazi (Davis, 84) – Watkins.
Warnings: Maguire, Bayi, Shaw, Matic.
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