Mason Greenwood celebrating his sixteenth goal of the season. Source: Getty Images

Game Summary

Manchester United continued it’s impressive run of form as we have now gone 17 games unbeaten after beating Aston Villa by three goals to nil as we closed within one point of fourth place Leicester. It was a game where United controlled the majority of the possession and when the chances arrived for the team to score, they took their opportunities. The side continue to move in the right direction since our last defeat in the Premier League was to Burnley back in January.

First Half

Whilst United started the first five minutes well as they looked to put together a combination of passes with linking up the play from the midfield and the attack. 

However, after that it seems United lost their way a little bit and were sluggish as Aston Villa began to find their feet in the game and had two excellent opportunities to put themselves into the lead with Jack Grealish’s effort at goal going over the top of the bar in the seventeenth minute and then Mahmoud Trezeguet’s strike going past De Gea and hitting the post.

In the twenty-seven minute is where United got themselves the first goal thanks to Bruno Fernandes. His clever spin on the ball just inside the opposition box, which resulted in him being fouled by Villa’s Ezri Konsa. There was much debate amongst United fans online and in the Sky Sports studio whether it was a penalty or not and maybe that Bruno Fernandes was the one who committed the foul. Fernandes dispatched the penalty into the goal and United went on to take control of the match.

In the last five minutes of the first half, United upped the tempo slightly as they looked to combine passes together and create opportunities on the opposition goal. Just before the half time whistle was to be blown, Mason Greenwood’s 20 yard strike hit the back of the net to give us a 2-0 lead. He took his total for the season to 16 in all competitions. As BBC Sport reported, it “leaves him one short of George Best, Brian Kidd and Wayne Rooney’s joint-record of most goals in a season by a United teenager, one which will surely be beaten by the end of the campaign”.

Greenwood, I believe is just going to get better and better in the years to come for United and I will be for one looking forward to watching his progress in the team.

Second Half

It was more of the same from United in the second half as they controlled the game through possession of the ball and never looked like we got out of second gear. Paul Pogba settled the match when his superb strike into the bottom left of the Villa goal to make it three. You could see the delight in his face as he and the other players went over to Bruno Fernandes who provided the assist for the goal.

United could have more than three goals tonight as Martial’s shot struck the bar in the sixty-first minute. Marcus Rashford could have also scored at the end of the game as Paul Pogba’s pass to inside the opposition box with Rashford’s right footed shot was saved by Villa’s Pepe Reina. Aston Villa rarely offered any threat on the attack as United’s defence did well to stop any shots towards the goal.

Conclusion

United looked comfortable throughout the game and have become the first team in Premier League history to win 4 successive games by a margin of 3 goals. David De Gea, now has the most appearances from an overseas players as he reached 399 surpassing another great United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. 

Greenwood was my man of the match as his superb strike continued his hot streak of scoring. He is the club’s third top scorer behind Martial and Rashford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said he is one of the best finishers and you can understand why. Other players that stood out for me were Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba as they exerted their influence on the game. Nemanja Matic did a great job sitting in the midfield cutting the opposition’s attack and getting the ball moving forward.

United are back in action on Monday night at Old Trafford against Southampton, who will provide a bit more of a test for us. Confidence is high at the moment and if we can carry on the momentum we have, then we can finish inside the Top 4 of the league.