(Football news) Manchester United easily defeated West Ham United 3-0 in their final Premier League match, while the Lions’ FA Cup run came to an end with a 3-1 loss to Chelsea in Wednesday’s fourth-round replay.
All good things must come to an end, and for Aston Villa, that time has definitely arrived. After two straight 3-1 losses at home, they will be hosting Manchester United at their headquarters in the West Midlands, which is a long cry from their historic 15-game winning streak in front of their own fans.
Few gave Chelsea a chance of trumping the Lions in Wednesday’s FA Cup rematch, but to fans’ and pundits’ surprise, the Blues dominated Unai Emery’s meek men from start to finish and deservedly reached round five thanks to Conor Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez’s efforts before Moussa Diaby pulled one back.
Emery’s penchant for knockout tournaments mattered little against the inspired Blues, whose success at Villa Park came one week after Newcastle United’s identical success on the Villains’ soil, although the hosts’ most recent Premier League affair saw them hit sorry Sheffield United for five without reply.
Qualification for the 2024-25 Champions League remains in Villa’s hands as Emery’s men sit fourth in the table, although Tottenham Hotspur will bump them down to fifth if they beat Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, and the Lions will be eight points adrift of Manchester City on the same number of games if the champions sink Everton on February 10.
In spite of their recent shortcomings, Villa can still be relied upon to make the net bulge at Villa Park – they are on a sensational 32-game scoring streak on familiar territory in all competitions – but Erik ten Hag’s reborn Manchester United crop need no attacking masterclass themselves.
Emulating the Holy Trinity of George Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton will take some doing for any soul fortunate enough to don the Man United jersey, but three of Ten Hag’s promising prospects are currently doing their bit to pay homage to the aforementioned icons.
Last weekend’s visit of West Ham United – who saw off the Red Devils at the London Stadium as recently as December – would ostensibly prove to be a tricky affair for Manchester United, but Ten Hag’s men ultimately made light work of the Irons, who succumbed to a Rasmus Hojlund opener and Alejandro Garnacho brace at Old Trafford.
The duo invited fellow young star Kobbie Mainoo to join them arm-in-arm on the advertising boards as Manchester United prolonged their near-flawless start to 2024, in which they have come up trumps in four of their five fixtures across the Premier
League and FA Cup, the one aberration being a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
Man United beat the Irons to move up to sixth position in the Premier League rankings, but they are still eight points behind Villa in fourth place. Their 31 goals scored are still the lowest attacking total in the English premier league.
Nevertheless, Ten Hag’s team has made significant progress in making up for their past offensive gaffes, scoring 11 goals in their last three games and 19 in their last seven. On Boxing Day, they triumphed over Villa for the third time in a row, winning 3-2 after Hojlund allowed emotion to get the better of him after he had finally opened his Premier League account.
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