Lucas Digne terrible, Ross Barkley passes test – Aston Villa player ratings vs Manchester United
Aston Villa suffered another damaging defeat in the Premier League after falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s men had a slow start in the first half and didn’t up their game in the second 45, as Michael Carrick’s side put them to the sword.
Casemiro opened up the scoring for the hosts, scoring a thumping header after the restart, with Ross Barkley soon levelling the contest.
The Villans then conceded a double blow from Manchester United‘s Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko which sealed the game, as Villa could now fall to fifth place if Liverpool get three points from their game against Tottenham.
It’s a poor defeat in the grand scheme of Aston Villa‘s Premier League and Champions League ambition, and one Emery will be furious about.
Lucas Digne should have prevented Casemiro goal; here’s why
Lucas Digne has been in and out of Emery’s starting lineups, battling for a place with Ian Maatsen, as his performance against United showed why.
Casemiro’s opening goal could have been dealt with had the Frenchman won the first header.
The inswinging corner arrived at Villa’s near post, where Digne was marking, as he failed to win the header before Casemiro thumped in, and eventually earned a match rating of 5.9.
As highlighted by Sofascore in the graphic above, Digne won just 25 per cent of his aerial and ground duels, which only added to the woes of his positioning for the first goal.
The left-back also failed to deliver four of his six crosses, and had a stroke of luck when his deflected pass into United’s box fell the way of Barkley for the goal.
- Read more: Aston Villa: Premier League release statement on controversial Ross Barkley goal vs Man United
Ross Barkley shines on first Premier League start of season
Barkley had yet to make a Premier League start this season until the game against Man United.
The midfielder didn’t look out of place throughout the match, and his goal just topped off what was a very good performance.
As highlighted by Sofascore, Barkley achieved an 8.3 match rating, which was higher than that of any of his Villa teammates.
The Englishman made six defensive contributions, while maintaining a 100 per cent dribble success rate, and did not deserve to be on the losing side in this one.
Aston Villa ratings vs Man United
Emi Martinez – 5
Lamare Bogarde – 5
Ezri Konsa – 5
Tyrone Mings – 6
Lucas Digne – 4
Ross Barkley – 8
Amadou Onana – 5
John McGinn – 5
Emi Buendia – 6
Morgan Rogers – 7
Ollie Watkins – 4
Substitutes
Andres Garcia – N/A
Ian Maatsen – 5
Douglas Luiz – 5
Leon Bailey – 5
Tammy Abraham – 4
For more Villa matchday stories, visit Football Insider for fresh updates on Unai Emery’s team.