Aston Villa 0 Manchester United 0: Evans gamble, lucky Rashford, what now for Ten Hag?

Manchester United drew 0-0 with Aston Villa leaving manager Erik ten Hag heading into the international break on the back of an improved display from his reorganised team.

The Dutchman, who had been under pressure coming into the match, dropped Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for 36-year-old Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire after the pair came on against Porto in the 3-3 Europa League draw earlier in the week.

Maguire, who scored the late equaliser in that game, went off injured at half-time, however, and was replaced by De Ligt with his team holding their own in a tight match.

The result means United are 14th in the Premier League table, with Villa fifth.

Here, our writers Carl Anka and Mark Critchley break down the key moments of the game.

What was United’s game plan?

It is unusual for a Premier League manager to face questions over the style of football he is trying to play after he’s been in place for more than two seasons.

In the first half at Villa Park, Erik ten Hag tried to provide some answers. The United manager rolled the dice and went for a bold starting XI with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire as his centre-back pairing. Eagle-eyed sleuths eventually figured out the line-up had a lot of similarities to the team that beat Villa 3-2 on Boxing Day last year, but once United kicked off, it became clear Ten Hag had switched things up.

Diogo Dalot spent much of the first half playing high and wide at left-back, Instead of inverting into central midfield to help with build-up play, as he had done in recent weeks. This had an encouraging effect on Marcus Rashford ahead of him, with the pair attempting to break Villa’s high defensive line.

United managed enjoy some periods of settled possession in the first half too, looking to circulate the ball in deeper areas while looking for an optimum angle to launch a direct attack to a speedy front three. Some poor weighting on the pass from Bruno Fernandes, coupled with some iffy hold-up play from Rasmus Hojlund, stopped things from truly clicking.

Carl Anka

Evans the enforcer

Ten Hag claimed his selection of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans was purely down to “rotation”, but he has not typically been one to chop and change at the heart of his defence — especially for a game like this.

More likely that Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt were dropped after their difficult night at the Dragao and Ten Hag was simply protecting his first-choice centre-back partnership with his pre-match comments.

But then Maguire and Evans were arguably more suited to the conservative approach United took anyway — sat in a low block, tasked with doing the basics of defending on the edge of their own box. Both performed well, particularly Evans, who snapped into a few tackles in the first half.

And interestingly, when Maguire went off injured, it was De Ligt who came on. As you might expect in fairness, with one right-sided centre-back replacing another. But the lesser-spotted Victor Lindelof was also preferred to replace Noussair Mazraoui at right-back, instead of Dalot switching sides and Martinez being introduced at left-back.

That was interesting given how Ten Hag put many of last season’s difficulties down to Martinez’s long spells out. Normally integral to how United want to play, this was a rare example of Ten Hag overlooking arguably his most trusted lieutenant in a time of need, and perhaps the clearest sign yet that the United manager knows he has to think differently to save his job.

Mark Critchley

Rash Rashford

United’s players and staff appeared frustrated with referee Rob Jones’ officiating towards the end of a first half that saw them pick up three yellow cards while, in their view, Villa got away with similar infractions.

But things even themselves out over the course of a season as they say, and sometimes over the course of a single game, and Rashford could count himself a little fortunate in the second half not to be sent off.

In the 59th minute, he chased down Matty Cash near the touchline before making a foul to stop a counter-attack. It was a soft booking but then three minutes later, he cynically tripped up Leon Bailey on the edge of United’s penalty box.

Villa players and fans were outraged he didn’t receive a second booking. It took the intervention of Bruno Fernandes talking to the referee, and Ten Hag taking Rashford away from the fourth official, to keep him on the pitch.

Not that he would stay on for long. Ten Hag felt he had little option but to replace Rashford shortly after. In the context of Fernandes’ back-to-back red cards over the past week, it was not the smartest bit of play and meant United were without a player who had been their most dangerous counter-attacking outlet for the last half hour.

Mark Critchley

What does this result mean?

United’s 3-3 draw with Porto saw them dubbed as “great entertainment for the neutral”. Sunday’s mildly improved performance probably bored anyone who tuned in to rubber neck.

Ten Hag’s side have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League matches before facing Villa. Outside of a Rashford effort that was saved in the first half, and a Bruno Fernandes free-kick that crashed off the woodwork in the second, they rarely threatened.

One of the issues for the team’s “suck ’em in and hit it long behind” approach came in their assortment of forwards. Rashford, Garnacho and Hojlund all struggled to make the ball stick in the final third, and with little-to-no hook to hold the attack on, things grew shapeless. The introduction of Joshua Zirkzee and Antony in the 64th minute changed very little. United did, however, reduce the number of grievous mistakes that have played into recent defeats but they struggled to show enough endeavour/skill/conviction (delete to your tastes) to win the game convincingly. They have only mustered five league goals this season; nowhere near good enough for a side of their ambition.

A point halts some of the bleeding, but they remain in the bottom half of the league table, with one of their lowest points totals ever after seven matches. Senior club executives from INEOS were present for the match, and on Tuesday a meeting will be held between Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir Dave Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox and Joel Glazer.