We could do with a big walloping away win like the 5-0 at Fulham last season, to boost our goal difference, but for excitement you can't really beat games like Saturday. At some stage though, we are going to have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and defend properly and start games as we have finished the last couple at Braga and Villa park.
I'm not sure where the team that went to Newcastle and ripped them a new one for the first twenty minutes and then did the same at Stamford bridge has disappeared to. The sluggish first half we witnessed in midweek was followed by another toothless attacking display until their second goal went in, just after the second half began.
I actually wanted Scholes to start on Saturday, but Villa did a bit of a job on him getting close on him and giving him no time. The ginger prince wasn't poor, but he didn't have the impact that Fergie would have hoped for. Saying that, that should be the signal for others to step up the plate, but there was no sign of that at all.
One of the problems over the last few weeks has been the lack of threat from the flanks until the games enters the latter stages and the games gets stretched. Valencia once again never threatened to take his man on, on the outside until late in the game. On the other side Young whilst not being as poor as Nani in Portugal didn't offer the threat you'd like to have seen. Rooney couldn't really get in to the game and Van Persie was totally starved of service.
Villa's performance belied their lowly league position, but you always expect these teams to raise their games against us, that's why you want to see us start the game at a better tempo. Still it looked as though we would go in level at half time, so to lose such a late goal and another soft one was annoying. Smalling didn't cover himself in glory, failing the physical challenge from Benteke, but Fergie had said he didn't really want to play him after only just playing his first ninety minutes since coming back from injury. No midweek game may a good thing for him as he can get a full weeks training under his belt.
Thankfully we saw the exciting all out attacking side of United that's been like a breath of fresh air after Villa got their second. The two quick replies were vital in giving us the chance to take all three points. After the equaliser it actually became an end to end contest before United bossed the game for the last ten minutes in the search for the winner.
It wasn't a hatrick for Hernandez, he won't be awarded that second goal, but it was another excellent performance from our new super sub. I wasn't surprised he came on at half time, though it may have been harsh on Young that he was the man to be replaced. He didn't alter things straight away, but he was always on the shoulder looking for the through ball stretching the home defence. It took a beautiful Scholes ball to see him bundle home the first after his ugly first touch seemed to have lost him the chance. The equaliser came through good work on the right from Valencia and Rafael, whom once again had an impressive game. The winner followed a well struck free kick from Van Persie, which saw Hernandez find acres of space in the box and he made no mistake. Even on a quiet day for the Dutchman, he still managed to hit the woodwork twice and almost fed Hernandez in the latter stages a couple of times.
It wasn't all over as the home side gave us a couple of anxious moments before the final whistle eased our worries. We have moaned over the last couple of seasons about our style of play and absence of attacking flare, well not this season, we're not.
I'm not sure where the team that went to Newcastle and ripped them a new one for the first twenty minutes and then did the same at Stamford bridge has disappeared to. The sluggish first half we witnessed in midweek was followed by another toothless attacking display until their second goal went in, just after the second half began.
I actually wanted Scholes to start on Saturday, but Villa did a bit of a job on him getting close on him and giving him no time. The ginger prince wasn't poor, but he didn't have the impact that Fergie would have hoped for. Saying that, that should be the signal for others to step up the plate, but there was no sign of that at all.
One of the problems over the last few weeks has been the lack of threat from the flanks until the games enters the latter stages and the games gets stretched. Valencia once again never threatened to take his man on, on the outside until late in the game. On the other side Young whilst not being as poor as Nani in Portugal didn't offer the threat you'd like to have seen. Rooney couldn't really get in to the game and Van Persie was totally starved of service.
Villa's performance belied their lowly league position, but you always expect these teams to raise their games against us, that's why you want to see us start the game at a better tempo. Still it looked as though we would go in level at half time, so to lose such a late goal and another soft one was annoying. Smalling didn't cover himself in glory, failing the physical challenge from Benteke, but Fergie had said he didn't really want to play him after only just playing his first ninety minutes since coming back from injury. No midweek game may a good thing for him as he can get a full weeks training under his belt.
Thankfully we saw the exciting all out attacking side of United that's been like a breath of fresh air after Villa got their second. The two quick replies were vital in giving us the chance to take all three points. After the equaliser it actually became an end to end contest before United bossed the game for the last ten minutes in the search for the winner.
It wasn't a hatrick for Hernandez, he won't be awarded that second goal, but it was another excellent performance from our new super sub. I wasn't surprised he came on at half time, though it may have been harsh on Young that he was the man to be replaced. He didn't alter things straight away, but he was always on the shoulder looking for the through ball stretching the home defence. It took a beautiful Scholes ball to see him bundle home the first after his ugly first touch seemed to have lost him the chance. The equaliser came through good work on the right from Valencia and Rafael, whom once again had an impressive game. The winner followed a well struck free kick from Van Persie, which saw Hernandez find acres of space in the box and he made no mistake. Even on a quiet day for the Dutchman, he still managed to hit the woodwork twice and almost fed Hernandez in the latter stages a couple of times.
It wasn't all over as the home side gave us a couple of anxious moments before the final whistle eased our worries. We have moaned over the last couple of seasons about our style of play and absence of attacking flare, well not this season, we're not.
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