Aston Villa strengthened their grip on the Premier League’s top three with a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday evening at Villa Park.
Morgan Rogers was the hero for the home side, scoring twice to extend Villa’s remarkable winning run to 10 matches in all competitions and ensuring Unai Emery’s team head into Christmas sitting third in the table.
The game came alive just before half-time when Rogers broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion, cutting inside and curling a superb effort into the top corner to ignite the home crowd of 43,157. Villa’s lead, however, was short-lived.
A costly loss of possession by Matty Cash allowed Patrick Dorgu to release Matheus Cunha, who ran through unchallenged and calmly slotted home in stoppage time to level the score for Manchester United.
United looked lively in the opening half and were good value for their equaliser, but the match shifted after the break. The visitors were disrupted by the injury to captain Bruno Fernandes, while Villa grew in confidence and control.
Rogers struck again in the 57th minute, once more showing his quality as he bent another precise finish beyond the goalkeeper to restore Villa’s advantage. It proved to be the decisive moment in an otherwise balanced contest.
United had their chances to respond. Cunha, in particular, squandered a golden opportunity when he headed wide from close range after being left unmarked from a left-wing cross, a miss that summed up their second-half frustrations.
Both goalkeepers had impressed earlier in the game, with Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and United’s Senne Lammens making important saves, but Rogers’ clinical finishing ultimately separated the two sides.
The result keeps Aston Villa third in the Premier League, closing the gap on leaders Arsenal to just three points. Manchester United, meanwhile, missed the chance to climb into the top five and will spend Christmas in seventh place.
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