Aston Villa 0 Man Utd 0: Erik ten Hag’s fate out of his own hands as Red Devils endure WORST start to Prem season
IT was about time Erik Ten Hag had some luck.
And so for a few more weeks at least, the beleaguered Dutchman clings on to his job as manager of Manchester United despite only amassing eight points after seven games, which poses as the club’s worst ever start in a Premier League season.
With United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe watching from the stands, United seemed primed for a proper thrashing at Villa Park which would surely have resulted in Ten Hag getting the boot.
But United ran into a Villa side which, four days after their latest famous win over Bayern Munich, looked absolutely knackered.
Ten Hag was also thankful that halfway through the second half, Marcus Rashford avoided what should have been a second yellow card for a challenge on Leon Bailey.
Ten Hag, knowing the player had been fortunate, replaced him just two minutes later.
And in stoppage time, Villa’s Jaden Philogene was handed a sitter but somehow, he shot straight at defender Diogo Dalot.
United skipper Bruno Fernandes – who actually avoided a red card for once – delivered United’s best chance, although it struck the woodwork.
But ultimately, neither side deserved to win and neither Unai Emery or Ten Hag will not be too unhappy.
While United also lacked a spark in the final third, at least they did hold firm and were more organised defensively than they were in the games against Spurs and Porto.
Yet the main talking point was concerning Rashford, who was United’s only attacking threat.
He received a yellow card for fouling Matty Cash in the 59th minute and should have been handed another caution soon after for his tackle on Bailey three minutes later but ref Rob Jones avoided making what should have been a straightforward decision.
Unsurprisingly, Ten Hag replaced Rashford with Antony in the 64th minute. At the same time, Joshua Zirkzee replaced Rasmus Hojlund who was isolated up front for most of the game.
And on this occasion, Jhon Duran, the hero of Villa’s 1-0 midweek win over Bayern Munich, was unable to make a difference when replacing Bailey.
So basically, none of the subs from either side made a blind bit of difference.
Ten Hag made five summer signings but only one of them, Noussair Mazraoui, started the game although even he was replaced at half-time.
And Matthijs De Ligt, dropped along with fellow defender Lisadro Martinez after some awful performances, only featured at the start of the second half due to an injury to Harry Maguire.
The Maguire injury makes no difference to interim England manager Lee Carsley as he missed out on the squad for the games with Greece and Finland.
Injury blow
Yet Carsley now has an issue as centre-back Ezri Konsa looks a huge doubt as he came off with a hamstring injury just 12 minutes into the game.
United’s only chance of a dire first half came through Rashford although his power-packed strike was met by a strong pair of hands by Emi Martinez.
Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Philogene both fired shots wide before the break while Ollie Watkins and Youri Tielemans – unmarked following a short corner – forced a decent stop from Andre Onana
Fernandes came the closest to scoring although his dipped free-kick smacked against the bar while Alejandro Garnacho should have done better from the rebound.
Villa keeper Martinez once again displayed his class by making a difficult shot from Antony look relatively easy.
Yet right at the end, the ball fell perfectly for Philogene but he belted the effort straight at Dalot. And Ten Hag breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Man Utd's worst starts to a season
Erik ten Hag has recorded Manchester United's worst ever start to a Premier League season after just seven games:
- 2024-25: Erik ten Hag (8 points)
- 2023-24: Erik ten Hag (9 points)
- 2019-20: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (9 points)