Aston Villa 2 Manchester Utd 2:MANCHESTER UNITED remain unbeaten, but still the points are trickling away.
The draw at Aston Villa was United’s sixth in seven away matches in the Premier League, the statistical equivalent of four defeats, and while the alacrity with which Alex Ferguson’s side saved the game was commendable, the general lack of quality in their performance did not suggest that Chelsea’s grip on the title was going to be loosened any time soon.
It was not as if this was just a rare off-day for United. A week earlier they were about to be held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford by the struggling Wolves when Park Ji-sung won the game in Fergie flexitime.
At Villa Park, where Manchester United had not lost for 15 years, they were two down with just under a quarter-of-an-hour to go and had also seen the opposition hit bar and post as Gerard Houllier’s injury-ravaged team swept their defence aside in the second half.
Smartly executed goals from Federico Macheda, who had replaced Javier Hernandez, and Nemanja Vidic, who as a defender had spent much of the game in a trance, reconfirmed United’s ability to salvage something from the most hopeless of situations, but their manager’s reaction suggested an underlying problem which is not going to be solved by a series of great escapes or even the eventual return of Wayne Rooney.
Not for the first time Ferguson found salvation on the bench as both Macheda and the young Frenchman Gabriel Obertan, who was brought on for a subdued Dimitar Berbatov, provided the attack with fresh legs and fresh ideas.
“They changed the game,” Ferguson said. “There was a great life and adventure about them. But I could have taken any 10 players off the field because we didn’t perform well. We came back well, but it was too late and we shouldn’t have been in that position.
“I expected us to do better in terms of our play. Our passing was poor. Normally, we can control the match. We didn’t control it. But you’ve got to give Villa credit for their battling qualities. They were playing at a high level of emotion and deserved the result.”
Had Aston Villa been up to strength there might have been some excuse for the way United struggled to find fluency while making a series of unforced errors, but the heart of Houllier’s team had been blown away by injuries.
“I don’t think I’ve had such an inexperienced midfield for a game of such magnitude,” the Villa manager admitted and when, at the start of the match, Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick faced Barry Bannan and Jonathan Hogg across the centre circle it was as if a couple of fathers had brought their lads along to see the game.
Such images vanished as the Villa pair gradually asserted a youthful authority which opened up the wings and gave Marc Albrighton and Stewart Downing opportunities to take on Patrice Evra and Wes Brown for skill and speed.
If Albrighton was the principle threat before half-time, Downing dominated the game thereafter, with Gabriel Agbonlahor finding sufficient form on his return from injury to plague the vague Vidic.
Villa appeared set for a memorable victory once Ashley Young had given them the lead with a penalty in the 72nd minute after Brown had brought him down, and Albrighton increased it four minutes later when he rounded off a breathtaking counterattack which saw the same Young set up Downing for the decisive cross.
As it was, Nani became the source of United’s rescue as his centres led to each of their goals.
Vidic headed the first of these down to Fletcher, whose neat back heel set up Macheda for a well-struck shot through a gap between defenders. The second was perfectly flighted for Vidic, unmarked at the far post, to head United level.
“With another five minutes we could have won the game,” said Ferguson. “If someone had seen my team before the game and said ‘will you take 2-2’ we would have taken it,” said Houllier.
In the event, his players were entitled to be disappointed, which said much for the strength of their performance.
Guardian Service
