Well, it wasn’t a defeat, but it still wasn’t particularly very good for Manchester United who drew 0-0 away at Aston Villa.
After Unai Emery’s men defeated Bayern Munich on a historic Champions League night just a few days ago, this was a pretty decent point for Erik ten Hag’s side. Sadly, there is no getting away from the fact that after seven fixtures of the new season, this is their worst start to a Premier League campaign.
It was a game lacking in any action and one typified by the fact that the game’s expected goals tally (xG) was the worst in any top-flight game in England over the last two seasons. We’re hardly selling this very well, are we?
The international break is now upon us and it’s over to the hierarchy at Old Trafford to make a big decision. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth were all in attendance on Sunday and couldn’t have been hugely pleased with what they saw.
A two-week interval in club proceedings acts as the perfect chance to get rid of the Dutchman but one imagines that the manager will still be in his post, just about, in two weeks.
Why? Well, it’s a very good question, but he has a veteran of the game in Jonny Evans to thank this weekend.
Jonny Evans' performance in numbers
Ten Hag has spent a colossal amount of money on trying to improve Man United’s backline with Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt looking like solid options on paper. The game isn’t played on paper, though, we all know that.
Martinez – who has had a “stinky season” – in the words of reporter Alex Turk, was particularly culpable during the midweek events in Porto, as too was De Ligt. The consequence? Both were surprisingly dropped for the trip to the Midlands this weekend.
It was a decision vindicated too as the Red Devils kept a clean sheet against Aston Villa. Evans was the game’s man of the match and proved to be an outstanding figure for United in the centre of defence, putting in a performance that put Martinez and Co to shame.
“It’s still a privilege to play for this club. I feel I can still help,” the Northern Irishman said at full-time. Quite right too. If only some of his teammates had that attitude.
It’s that attitude that has seen Evans play 18 successive seasons in the Premier League now and arguably, he has been Ten Hag’s best signing. He didn’t cost a single penny. It’s funny how football works out, isn’t it?
So, how did Evans shine? Well, he won all five of his aerial duels, six of his seven ground duels and maintained a pass success rate of 86%. Not bad at all, particularly when you consider he was charged with keeping Ollie Watkins and then the in-form man Jhon Duran quiet.
Minutes played
90
Touches
54
Accurate passes
36/42 (86%)
Ground duels won
6/7
Aerial duels won
5/5
Possession lost
6x
Fouls
1
Clearances
3
Tackles
4
Dribbled past
0
Key passes
0
Shots
1
He wasn’t the only in United colours to stand out though.
Diogo Dalot's performance in numbers
Diogo Dalot was exceptional for United last term. It didn’t take much to stand out considering the campaign they had but he was strong nonetheless, walking away with the club’s Player of the Season award.
His form in 2024/25 has not been so good, often struggling out of position at left-back. That was clear against Tottenham a week ago when he found it a challenge to keep Brennan Johnson quiet. The full-back was nowhere to be seen when the Welshman opened the scoring early on.
Well, he was back to a semblance of form at Villa Park today, performing one heroic action in the 92nd minute that will have bought Ten Hag’s tenure some more time.
A free-kick was cleared but it fell back to Villa on the left-hand side who were on the offence. The ball came across the goal and Jaden Philogene was left with what looked like a tap-in at the back post. Dalot saved United, he saved Ten Hag. It’s the position he should have occupied for Johnson’s strike last week.
That wasn’t the only good thing the Portuguese did, however, as Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst pointed out. In giving Dalot an 8/10 rating – as good as Evans – the reporter noted that he ‘had little grief from the wasteful Leon Bailey’.
That was shown in the stats. The Portugal international won 100% of his defensive duels, made two tackles, three clearances and a key pass.
By no means was it a flawless display from the Jose Mourinho signing but it was effective. Ten Hag will no doubt be craving more of that over the coming weeks.
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