MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Bruno Fernandes missed a stoppage-time penalty as
Aston Villa shocked
Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday to
prevent the Red Devils moving to the top of the Premier League.
اضافة اعلان
The Portuguese
midfielder blasted his 93rd-minute spot-kick over the bar minutes after Kortney
Hause's late headed goal, which earned Villa its first win against United since
December 2009.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
claimed Villa's players tried to distract Fernandes but backed his player to
rebound after he missed just his second penalty for United in 23 attempts.
"The way they
get round the penalty spot, get round Bruno, that's not to my liking," he
said.
"It (the miss)
doesn't get in Bruno's head. He's strong mentally and he'll step forward
again."
United drew a blank
in the league for the first time this season despite boasting the top-flight's
best attacking record and a star-studded line-up featuring Cristiano Ronaldo,
Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood.
Jadon Sancho, Anthony
Martial and Jesse Lingard – last week's match-winner at West Ham – were unused
substitutes and Edinson Cavani only entered the fray with eight minutes
remaining.
United has now lost
three of its past four matches in all competitions after exiting the League Cup
on Wednesday and conceding a late winner in its Champions League opener at
Young Boys the previous week.
The visitors were
guilty of wasting several gilt-edged opportunities but were eventually rewarded
for their enterprise in a frantic finale.
Hause beat Cavani at
the near post from a Douglas Luiz corner to put his side in front in the 88th
minute before agonizingly conceding a penalty for handling a Cavani header.
But Fernandes — on
spot-kick duty ahead of Ronaldo — missed in a dramatic finish to the game as
the hosts racked up 28 shots to no avail.
Earlier, defender
Matt Targett squandered Villa's first clear-cut chance of the game when he
blazed over at the back post in the 16th minute.
Lingard's misplaced
back pass cost United in the Champions League against Young Boys and Harry
Maguire almost made the same mistake at Old Trafford.
The United captain's
errant back pass forced David de Gea into a rushed clearance, but Villa striker
Ollie Watkins's shot was too close to the Spaniard.
Ezri Konsa was the
next Villa player to spurn a glorious chance as he missed the target with a
header from six yards.
Visiting goalkeeper
Emiliano Martinez was called into action to deny Greenwood in the second half
but the away side continued to have the upper hand.
Villa manager Dean
Smith savored his side's win.
"It's been a
long time coming. It gives an awful lot of belief to the players," he
said.
The result left
United locked on 13 points alongside Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool,
who was due to play Brentford in the late kick-off on Saturday.
Read more Sports
.jpg)
.jpg)
