United Held At Old Trafford

It was another poor weekend for Manchester United as they drew 2-2 at home to newly-promoted Aston Villa in a game they rarely looked like winning. 

Tyrone Mings' first Premier League goal levelled the scores shortly after Victor Lindelof had given United a 64th-minute lead, though, the England defender did have to wait to see if it would be ruled out by the assistant video referee (VAR).

Man Utd made one change from last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Sheffield United. Phil Jones dropped out of the matchday 18 with Juan Mata coming in.

Manchester United started the game in flat fashion with Villa looking to play with pace and even looked comfortable on the ball. 

They were rewarded for their positive start as Jack Grealish stunned Old Trafford with a stunning effort. El Ghazi crossed from the right-hand side which made its way to the left of the box only for Grealish to shift onto his right and curl on into the top right corner. It was a seemingly impossible angle for Grealish but he managed to hit the net leaving David De Gea with no chance. 

Villa thought they went 2-0 up after substitute Trezeguet bundled in Grealish’s cross but the flag was raised for offside against the winger. 

Just before half-time United were level as Andreas Pereira’s delicious ball was met by Rashford whose header hit the post and in off Aston Villa Goalkeeper Tom Heaton’s back. An unfortunate own goal but some relief for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side. 

In the second half Man United threatened early as Anthony Martial dance his way into the box but his powerful effort was straight at Heaton. 

In the 64th minute, United took the lead as Fred put in a cross which was helped on its way by Wesley as Lindelof headed in from a difficult angle much to the delight of Old Trafford. 

The lead was short-lived as Aston Villa equalised less than two minutes later. Matt Targett dinked a pass over the United defence and Mings pulled away to hammer the ball home, although he did not celebrate with the threat of a VAR check on the horizon. There was no offside flag raised initially and the replays showed that Mings was well onside, handing Aston Villa a well-deserved point away from home.

The draw puts more pressure on Solskjaer as United sit in 9th place in the Premier League with their next two fixtures coming against Tottenham and Man City.