The duel between Europeans remained locked until the end. Aston Villa and Manchester United drew on Sunday during the 7th day of the Premier League (0-0). After energy-intensive mid-week European games, Villans and Red Devils clearly lacked legs and appetite. Unai Emery’s players maintain their 5th place in the ranking, those of Erik Ten Hag remain 14th. The Dutch coach remains in an uncomfortable position.
If the start of the match was intense with a good strike from Marcus Rashford repelled by Emiliano Martinez (5th) and the response from Morgan Rogers with a shot right next to the cage of André Onana (8th), the pace fell significantly after the muscular injury exit of Ezri Konsa (12th). Both teams relied heavily on defensive rigor. They showed themselves to be failing at the moment of impact with numerous technical errors or set pieces poorly negotiated by the locals.
Chelsea did not do better
The score was logically blank at the break. It then remained there despite a good attempt by Rashford deflected with the tip of the gloves by Martinez (49th) or a free kick from Bruno Fernandes which crashed into the crossbar (68th). Even Jhon Duran, the Villa supersub who brought down Bayen in the Champions League (1-0), did not find the fault. His team continues a second draw in the league while Manchester United signs a 5th match without a win in all competitions.
Aston Villa remains level with Chelsea, fourth in the table. The Blues also had to settle for a draw at home against Nottingham Forest this Sunday (1-1). The meeting was still more lively with Chris Wood opening the score for the visitors (49th) then Noni Madueke’s equalizer (57th). James Ward-Prowse was sent off (78th) but Chelsea failed to make the difference at the end of the match. Liverpool, their next opponent, comes out on top with Manchester City and Arsenal completing the podium after their weekend successes.
