Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 5:08 PM• Mart van Mourik • Last update: 17:14

Manchester United booked a business victory in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. On a visit to Aston Villa, the team of trainer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still faced a 1-0 deficit at halftime, which was amply made up in the second half: 1-3. With the victory, United prevented fellow city rivals Manchester City, who became the champion the day before without taking action. Donny van de Beek stayed on the bench for ninety minutes, while Anwar El Ghazi got 77 minutes of play at Villa.

The visitors took the initiative from the first whistle and created three good chances before the tenth minute of play had elapsed. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez reacted alert three times and kept Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw and Fred from scoring with excellent saves. Bruno Fernandes also contributed after fifteen minutes of play; his attempt from a Pogba cross, however, disappeared just wide of the left post.

Villa worked more efficiently, opening against the proportions in the score halfway through the second half. John McGinn served Bertrand Traoré on the edge of the sixteen-meter area, who turned away from Victor Lindelöf with a technically gifted cut and scored diagonally with a hard shot: 1-0. Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, among others, came close to the equalizer a few times in the remainder of the first company, but thanks to a neat performance by Martínez, Villa rested with a lead.

Seven minutes after the break, the closing post still capitulated. Douglas Luis brought Pogba down in the penalty area, after which referee Chris Kavanagh decided to award a penalty to United. As usual, Fernandes took his responsibility and sent Martínez into the wrong corner: 1-1. Four minutes later, the visitors even took the lead. Aaron Wan-Bissaka gave the lesson to Greenwood, who skillfully turned away from Tyrone Mings and scored the 1-2 in the short corner. The maker of the second United goal was taken to the side halfway through the second half in favor of Edinson Cavani, who would score the 1-3 a few minutes before the end.

Rashford had a cross from the right to the Uruguayan, who grazed the ball with the head and found the far corner. In the end, Villa would end the game with ten men. Ollie Watkins was presented with his second yellow card of the match in the penultimate minute of regular time after a showy scowl.