Kourtney Hause’s late header and a Bruno Fernandes’ missed penalty in stoppage time meant Aston Villa take all three points against Manchester United.
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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt decision-making in the final third was not good enough as the team slipped to a first Premier League defeat of this season on Saturday. United dominated the ball in the early kick-off against Aston Villa and amassed 28 shots across the 90 minutes, but ultimately came away without a point. Kourtney Hause’s late header and a Bruno Fernandes’ missed penalty in stoppage time meant Aston Villa take all three points against Manchester United. When speaking to club media and in his post-match press conference, Ole spoke about the team not being clinical enough in the final third.
“I thought we were very good in the transitions, defensively we won the ball in good positions and we attacked quickly. But when we got up there, the final decision, the final execution, the quality in the pass or the shot or decision wasn’t good enough to get goals. The game ebbed and flowed and was probably a good game for the neutrals but unfortunately, we didn’t get a goal,” Ole lamented.
Speaking about Aston Villa’s goal, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said, “Against us on the corner you see the inconsistencies again with VAR and decision making because [Ollie] Watkins is clearly standing on or is touching David [De Gea] as the header has gone so he is offside, or it is a foul. The linesman did well, he reported it or called it in to VAR, but they turned the decision down and it is a goal unfortunately so, bad decisions again.”
Despite his issue with the goal, the manager only had good words to say about Villa and also mentioned that his team did not have “enough control.” “We should have, could have, slowed the game down at times. But when you have attackers who are very good on transitions with speed and skill, sometimes the decision then was rushed,” he added.
“We didn’t have enough control even though we had 60 per cent possession, 30 shots or whatever. But we know Aston Villa are a good team on transition as well with Watkins, [John] McGinn and [Jacob] Ramsey running forward with the wing-backs. But that wasn’t what hurt us though. It was the corner kick at the end and unfortunately Bruno [Fernandes] with one of his very, very rare misses.”
Speaking about the missed penalty, Ole said, “I didn’t like the way they crowded Bruno, the penalty spot, the referee, all that malarkey but Bruno’s very strong mentally and unfortunately today it didn’t go in.”
Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were substituted at various points in the match owing to injuries. When asked about it, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said, “Sorry, I can’t give you any updates. We will have to use today [Saturday] and tomorrow and Monday or when we get the scans done and see how we are.”
Now attention turns to the Champions League clash against Villarreal in midweek. With European nights under the floodlights returning to Old Trafford, United will be determined to bounce back from this defeat and also the opening group match loss to Young Boys.
“Every time you’re defeated, you have to stand up for yourselves, stand up for your team, fight for your team and we will. The boys will. It’s a big game, a Champions League night and we know we’ve started that group badly, but we’ll be ready,” he added.
