Manchester United put in a below-par performance against Aston Villa on Sunday and succumbed to a 1-3 loss that snapped their nine-game unbeaten streak.
Many things went wrong for United that day, including fatigue, selection calls for Erik ten Hag and a huge gap in the squad in terms of attacking substitutions.
Christian Eriksen seemed jaded and not his usual creative self, while Donny van de Beek, playing in the absence of Bruno Fernandes, has disappointed in his last two starts.
referee howler
Fred’s high-energy style or Scott McTominay’s physical presence would have been more suited to the contest.
Ten Hag will be worried about their strikers’ lack of goal threat with Cristiano Ronaldo a shadow of his former self while Marcus Rashford was ineffective down the right.
When Ten Hag made his changes, he brought in a below-average Anthony Elanga and left-back Tyrell Malacia, highlighting the lack of offensive firepower at his disposal.
The 20-time English champions deservedly lost the contest but the referee’s decisions did not help either. The second goal that came from a free kick by Lucas Digne had to be retaken.
In a video capture, Luke Shaw can clearly be seen fouling Jacob Ramsey about 22 yards from goal. However, referee Anthony Taylor allows the Villa players to advance the ball several yards forward in a much better position.
Disclaimer: We deserved to lose to Villa regardless of this, it’s just another example of how poor officiating is directly affecting games.
Ten Hag said he didn’t feel like the wall was 10 yards away, but he didn’t realize how much Villa jumped the ball forward from the foul as well. pic.twitter.com/HrgnSJ6pZA
— United Peoples TV (@UnitedPeoplesTV) November 7, 2022
The referee or his assistant should have detected this flagrant misuse of the ball and whistled for the free kick to be taken from further back.
No United player complained
That wasn’t Taylor’s only mistake. Instead of measuring 10 yards from the ball for United’s wall to stand up, the referee placed his vanishing spray more than 13 yards from the ball.
Ten Hag even brought up this point in his post-match press conference.
“I think the free throw [from Lucas Digne] can be stopped because the wall is too far [over]. It’s okay, these little details, but the little details make the difference in top-level football.”
None of the United players complained, not even David de Gea, which was a surprise. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo was a silent spectator. Fernandes or Harry Maguire would surely have protested.
Even Villa’s players weren’t too happy with Taylor’s refereeing, as Leon Bailey complained about a double elbow from Lisandro Martinez that escaped punishment.
Ten Hag hopes that these minor issues will not be repeated in future games, while he will be asking for much more from his group of players.
