{"id":542682,"date":"2026-03-15T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542682\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:20:08","slug":"manchester-united-sink-aston-villa-to-tighten-grip-on-champions-league-spot-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542682\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United sink Aston Villa to tighten grip on Champions League spot | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 71 minutes a classic Manchester United<\/a> riposte, via Matheus Cunha, to Ross Barkley\u2019s equaliser moments before. From around halfway, the peerless Bruno Fernandes glanced up and steered the ball through an inside left channel for Cunha. United\u2019s No 10 galloped forward and as Emiliano Mart\u00ednez loomed large the Brazilian\u2019s curled finish was a peach that kissed the far right of the net, Cunha stepping forward before the Stretford End to soak up the ecstatic adoration.<\/p>\n

Fernandes\u2019 assist was his 100th in all competitions for United, the contest\u2019s second, and 16th in the Premier League<\/a>. The last statistic is a club record, this term\u2019s competition high, and a latest argument for winning the player of the season awards.<\/p>\n

United\u2019s captain said: \u201cI\u2019m more proud because I did it serving my teammates. It\u2019s an achievement for me, but the main achievement will be [to finish] in the top spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next came Benjamin Sesko\u2019s 81st-minute clincher. This time, Cunha\u2019s ball from the left was deflected into the No 30\u2019s orbit and, after swivelling, he bundled past Mart\u00ednez \u2013 the striker having entered only recently.<\/p>\n

Cunha\u2019s goal pulled United ahead after Barkley\u2019s intervention. It arrived with the Aston Villa<\/a> No 6 near Senne Lammens\u2019 goal, his rocket of a left foot beating United\u2019s keeper to his right, zipping past Amadou Onana, who was offside.<\/p>\n

The video assistant referee decided \u2013 correctly \u2013 that he was not in Lammens\u2019 line of vision and so Villa believed they had a point at least in the Champions League qualification race.<\/p>\n

But now came Cunha and Sesko\u2019s finishes which complimented Casemiro\u2019s 53rd-minute headed opener and following this victory, United may fancy hunting down Manchester City, whose form is faltering in second.<\/p>\n

Michael Carrick was delighted. \u201cWe can enjoy winning,\u201d United\u2019s interim manager said. \u201cWe are keeping a lid on it and understanding where we are and what it takes to win games like today. We are in a good position at the moment but still a lot to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne Rooney, Carrick\u2019s former United teammate when a player, stated on BBC 5 Live that he should \u201c100%\u201d become the No 1. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t affect me the noise, I don\u2019t mean Wayne, I mean in general,\u201d the 44-year-old said. \u201cObviously I\u2019m enjoying the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entertaining second period followed a stuttering start yet with a double-twist in midfield that created space Bryan Mbeumo upped the quality and ignited a raid that moved left through Fernandes, whose cross posed a question the visiting rearguard answered with a clearance.<\/p>\n

United took charge. A crashing and fair Casemiro tackle dispossessed Onana and Villa were spun. Moments later Casemiro ran along the right, claimed a corner, Fernandes delivered, Harry Maguire rose and nodded to Amad Diallo who headed for the right of Mart\u00ednez but Villa\u2019s No 1 saved low.<\/p>\n

Casemiro heads Manchester United into the lead. Photograph: Gary Oakley\/EPA<\/p>\n

Diallo \u2013 for Sesko \u2013 was one of two Carrick changes as Noussair Mazraoui made way, also, for Diogo Dalot following the loss at Newcastle. Unai Emery could start John McGinn for a first time since hurting a knee against Everton on 18 January, with Tyrone Mings and Barkley his other two changes from the midweek Europa League win over Lille.<\/p>\n

Still Villa lacked imagination, unlike Fernandes, whose dummy sent Emiliano Buend\u00eda into a different postcode: he fed Casemiro, and his shot was blocked by Ezri Konsa. Emery, as his animated way, was a Marcel Marceau of disgust at this being allowed but the Spaniard\u2019s touchline mime went positive when Ollie Watkins threatened down Villa\u2019s right. But Maguire outsmuscled the No 9.<\/p>\n

More encouragement for the Midlanders came when Watkins swooped left in United\u2019s area but an amateurish touch allowed Leny Yoro to stymie the attempt. At the interval Carrick could be the happier of the managers but his team lacked sharpness in front of goal.<\/p>\n

Example: seconds into the restart and Diallo blasted over when in, to the left of Mart\u00ednez\u2019s posts.<\/p>\n

But, now, Casemiro showed how \u2013 at a corner, from the right. Fernandes curled this in as skilfully as the veteran hopped forward and sent a skimming header beyond a flailing Mart\u00ednez in and off the far post for a seventh league finish.<\/p>\n

This began a breathless 28 minutes containing the goals of Barkley, Cunha and Sesko and at the final whistle United had strengthened their hold on third place.<\/p>\n

It is only the second time Emery\u2019s Villa have lost three consecutive league matches.<\/p>\n

The manager said: \u201cManchester United are at a high level and to face them today was a huge challenge. We are competing and were with the same points, today we finish three points behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must keep going, use the [positive] points we had before to try to keep going, keep fighting and keep recovering tactically and with confidence. I am so motivated to achieve our objectives. I like the challenges we have before us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On 71 minutes a classic Manchester United riposte, via Matheus Cunha, to Ross Barkley\u2019s equaliser moments before. From…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-542682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}