Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United - Teams content with result
Thursday 11 February 2010
 ASTON VILLA 1
Cuellar 19
 MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Collins (og) 23
Two games, two goals and four points for Aston Villa now against Manchester United and that return is not entirely undeserved.
On a surface covered by light snow, Villa made amends for a slightly negative performance against Tottenham last week by taking the game to United in the opening period and by never letting them settle in to a pattern of play. Martin O’Neill’s men didn’t have to rely on counter-attacking and at times they looked like a true top four outfit. After an open start, the game was given the goal that it needed. Stewart Downing whipped in one of many quick crosses which eventually dropped to the head of Carlos Cuéllar who beat Edwin Van der Sar with a looping header. O’Neill will have been delighted his side ended their league scoring drought at home so early on. However, as they usually do, United reacted very quickly and Nani’s endeavour down to the right wing resulted in a cross reaching the quiet Ryan Giggs who’s dragged volley cannoned off James Collins to find the gaping net. Subsequently, the game dropped in tempo and both sides only had sporadic chances for the games remainder. Two good saves from Brad Friedel and Van der Sar by the tireless Wayne Rooney and James Milner were the only times either keeper was seriously tested, as neither side showed enough impetus going forward to warrant the victory.
Perhaps Villa fans will feel aggrieved that they did not capitalise on United after the sending off of Nani for a two footed lunge on Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov. But they can take solace from the train of thought that playing against ten men can be harder than against eleven. O’Neill tried to take advantage of the numerical difference by bringing John Carew on for the neat and tidy Fabian Delph but the big man was largely ineffective, resulting in a lack of opportunities in the second half. Sir Alex Ferguson tried to influence the game with substitutions himself by bringing Dimitar Berbatov and Antonio Valencia but barring a few runs by Valencia, neither change worked in the way Ferguson would have wanted.
Looking at results elsewhere, both sides will look back on this mid week schedule and feel reasonably content. Villa were aided by defeats for Liverpool and Spurs whilst United were helped by Chelsea’s loss to Everton. This game did nothing to damage either side’s ambitions for the season but left the fans wanting more from their side and previous performances this season suggest that there was a lot more to offer.
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