Villa Vacuous in defence as United punish
By James
December 9 2003
Villa suffered yet another away defeat and yet another defeat at Old Trafford. Diego Forlan scored two in the last two minutes to add insult to injury as the Claret and Blue army went home on the back of a 4-0 loss.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy grabbed the other two for a Manchester United side who were clearly below par. They did not even have to get beyond first gear to notch up four easy goals in a match Villa never had any chance of winning.

Villa’s defence were the main culprits in a match where the away side never really got started. Villa were given a warning on seven minutes as a cross was not cleared and Roy Keane’s shot was cleared off the line by Lee Hendrie.

The warning shot was not acted upon and ten minutes later United had the lead, Van Nistelrooy grabbing his first of the game after good work from Kleberson. The Brazilian midfielder knocked the ball across to Van Nistelrooy who was poorly marked and easily slotted past Sorensen.

Howard hardly had a shot to save in the first half, Villa’s best chance fell to Dion Dublin, who had gone up to an attacking position. The make-shift centre back controlled the ball well, although his shot was deflected by Rio Ferdinand in the United defence.

United still had time at the end of the first half to increase their lead as Van Nistelrooy grabbed a brace. The Dutchman brought down a cross from Ryan Giggs, who had acres of space with which to pick out his man, and fired home with ease. Five men were standing around Van Nistelrooy and it really was criminal defending to let a man of that quality bring the ball down and get a shot away.

HALFTIME – Man United 2 Villa 0

Villa started the second half a lot brighter and looked to be on the up as Barry - and shortly after Whittingham - fired in pot-shots, however they weren’t much trouble for Tim Howard in the United goal.

Lee Hendrie was the first Villa man to really test Howard, as he sent a dipping 30 yard drive towards the top right hand corner, although the American did well to tip it over the bar.

Villa continued to bring some pressure on to United as Hitzlsperger tried a pile driver from outside the box, however it was charged down and five minutes later he attempted another although it was very poor and never looked like troubling anyone as soon as it left his foot.

The spirits of the Villa boys were again increased as they produced another chance; however a very poor attempt by Marcus Allbäck to win a header resulted in the chance going begging. The Swede turned his back on the ball when competing for the header and he really should have done better from a good position.

Nevertheless, the floodgates opened in the last few minutes when Diego Forlan grabbed his first of the game. It was a sensational drive from all of 30 yards which ended the match for Villa as there was clearly no way back now.

Forlan still managed to find time to get his second as poor defending from Mark Delaney allowed the Uruguayan to slot home past a helpless Sorensen. Forlan is now back to the kind of form which he produced when he got his first Premiership goal, bizarrely enough against Villa.

FULLTIME – Man United 4 Villa 0

This was the kind of match which relegation battles can be built on and this certainly looks the case for Villa this season. The Claret and Blue army face massive trouble if they do not start going on a run of points, which the fans will hope starts at home to Wolves on Sunday.

My man of the match: Thomas Sorensen Hard to choose on this performance, however I am picking Sorensen as I think he deserves great credit for not strangling any of the defenders after that terrible defensive display.

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TEAMS

Aston Villa Sorensen, Delaney, Mellberg, Dublin, Samuel, Hendrie, G.McCann, Hitzlsperger (Whittingham 72), Barry, Angel (Allbäck 64), Vassell. Subs Not Used: De La Cruz, Ridgewell, Postma (GK).

Man United Howard, Silvestre, Neville, P.Neville(Scholes 59), Ferdinand, Kleberson, Ronaldo, Keane, Fortune, Giggs(Bellion 59), Van Nistelrooy(Forlan). Subs Not Used: O’Shea, Carroll (GK)

Attendance: 67,621

Other News

+ On the back of the 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford Villa were greeted with more bad news on Sunday as the FA Cup 3rd Round draw was made and it pitched Villa up against Man United at Villa Park.

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