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First look
Manchester United’s fell 1-0 loss to Aston Villa in a friendly Saturday evening.
A number of the regulars for the Reds were missing including David de Gea, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood among others.
We did get a glimpse of two of United’s big summer signings in Dean Henderson and Donny van de Beek.
Taking advantage
This was a pretty even game with both teams looking to regain the feel of a competitive match.
The difference was Villa was able to take full advantage of the chances they had.
In fact, the first chance they had came in the 16th minute when Jack Grealish got the ball on the left wing, fired a ball over to Trezeguet. Trezeguet then sent a perfect cross that Ollie Watkins nodded in past Henderson.
A minute before the goal United thought they’d earned a penalty when Daniel James was brought down in the box.
The referee Lee Mason however didn’t see it that way and awarded no penalty.
Jesse Lingard nearly leveled the match later in the half only to have his curling effort stopped by Villa keeper Jed Steer.
The Reds came close to equalising through Harry Maguire and James before the half, but a goalmouth scramble was cleared away by the Villa defence.
The second half was a much scrappier affair with both sides showing they’re not yet game ready.
James hit the side netting after a good run in the 64th minute.
The last great chance for United came when Jesse Lingard almost chipped Steer from 35 yards out.
Solid debuts
After the match manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised three players in particular for their performance.
Donny van de Beek, Dean Henderson and Teden Mengi all had solid outings.
After the matched Solksjaer said he was happy with what van de Beek showed. “He’s such a finder of space and he creates time for himself with his timing and movement. I was very happy with his performance.”
Despite losing his first match since his return Solskjaer thought Henderson played a solid game in goal.
“I thought Deano showed his authority back there and he played like a proper Man United goalkeeper.”
And when speaking of Mengi Solskjaer said when he came on as a substitute you saw “how exciting a prospect he is.”
What’s next
Man United now have a week to prepare for their opening fixture against Crystal Palace on September 19. (JSL)
