Man Utd edge Villa but cracks in squad show after feeble display
Robin Bairner
- 10 Jan 2022 16:01 CST
- 5 min read
Manchester United won through against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, but there was plenty to suggest in their 1-0 win that all is not well at Old Trafford.
Scott McTominay’s first-half header proved to be decisive in the tie, but their opponents had two goals ruled out in the second period, the first of which came after an extensive VAR check.
It was a match played against the backdrop of mediocre recent displays and a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves, which sparked paper talk that almost a dozen players are willing to leave Man Utd in January.
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Fred took to social media to forcefully deny such rumours, but there was an expectation that on the field Man Utd would want to provide an equally emphatic response.
Admittedly they were without the talismanic presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, but it was a strong squad deployed by interim boss Ralf Rangnick, whose appointment is rumoured to have piqued the frustration of some members of the playing staff, the Portuguese among them.
Man Utd's body language dreadful
Instead of giving the manager a vote of confidence with a rousing cup display, Man Utd grabbed the lead then spent much of the remainder of the match looking like a lower-league club fighting to hold off superior opposition.
Villa dominated possession and territory, while the Red Devils were often sloppy in possession, were reliant on a handful of good stops from David de Gea and only carried a threat on the break.
Marcus Rashford’s body language was especially dreadful. The England attacker spent the closing stages of the game looking thoroughly disinterested, even failing to pressurise a loose ball in the box after Mason Greenwood’s shot was saved.
There was nothing in this performance that suggested that Man Utd were a team together in common cause, and while they ultimately limped to a seventh straight FA Cup victory over Aston Villa, it was a successes thoroughly undeserved and one that raises more questions than it answers over the status of the current squad and Rangnick.
