Premier League: Aston Villa came close to end Manchester United’s unbeaten run – Match finished 2-2
Manchester United looked certain to lose their unbeaten run when a remarkable comeback in the last 10 minutes saw them draw level with Aston Villa.
Villa were missing 9 of their 1st team players through injuries and sickness. But The Lions could not believe their luck when they found themselves leading the match from goals of Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton.
United were losing 2-0 till the 80th minute when substitute Federico Macheda and Nemanja Vidic scored in quick succession to level the score 2-2. It was a remarkable comeback from Sir Alex Ferguson’s men who are known
for such fighting spirit. Their never-say-die attitude is something they are well known for.
Ferguson’s men should consider themselves very lucky to get a point from the game as their performance was below par against an almost 2nd string Villa team. Many of the Villains’ 1st team players were missing
due to injuries. But the young side totally dominated against the much experienced United side.
Fergie was not pleased with his team's performance and said that although they controlled the 1st half of the match, he was disappointed with their 2nd half performance. Their passing was terrible and gave
the ball away cheaply too often.
He added: “We are a club though that never says there is no way back. We brought people on (Macheda and Gabriel Obertan) and they changed the game in fairness to them. There was a great life and adventure about them. Macheda scored
a great goal and with another five minutes we would have won the game.''
Villa boss Gerard Houllier, who has a very good record against the Scot, must have thought that this might be the day to end Ferguson’s 15-year unbeaten run at Villa Park. But his dreams were shattered within a couple of minutes.
He would also consider himself a bit lucky that United didn’t go all the way and win as they had put lot of pressure in the final minutes of the game.
But still the Frenchman would be very disappointed after conceding a 2-0 lead.
After the game, Houllier said that he is proud of his team and the entire team’s performance was great. But at the same time, the team is really disappointed that they let United come back in the game. He felt that the team had
many chances to kill the game and were also bit unlucky to hit the bar and the post.
Praising the opposition, he said that United is a very dangerous side and when they scored their 1st goal, the momentum shift with them and they could have also lost the game. They just never gave up till the last minute.
He said: “I do not think I've had such an inexperienced midfield for a game of such magnitude. If someone had seen our team before the game and said 'will you take 2-2?', we would have taken it. But it is just the way that the
game went which meant we felt disappointed with the result.”
United is still in 2nd place, 3 points behind Chelsea, but have played one game more than the Champions. They will have to improve leaps and bounds after this performance, otherwise they can kiss they title hopes goodbye.
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