Aston Villa player ratings as moronic Emi Martínez red card at Manchester United kills Champions League hope
Referee Thomas Bramall directly costs Villa a place in the top club competition and the Europa League is scant consolation
Emi Martínez gets some of the blame. Matty Cash gets some of the blame. Unai Emery and an overall performance that was badly lacking get some of the blame. But this result and Villa’s season were blown by a referee in the most disgusting circumstances.
Aston Villa were unchanged from the win over Tottenham Hotspur. There were players in today’s line-up who will never play for Villa again. There are others who probably should be playing much less.
All of that feels immaterial this evening after a 2-0 defeat that defies justification.
Here are the ratings:
Emiliano Martínez - 2
Outstanding save from Mason Mount in the first few minutes. Quickly followed up by four more routine saves in the first half alone. Solid handling from crosses. Stupidly sent off in first-half stoppage time for a professional foul on Rasmus Højlund in what is probably his last Villa game.
Matty Cash - 3
Played Diogo Dalot onside on half an hour and United should have scored. Short backpass caused Martínez to come out for a very costly red card challenge. Gave the ball away again in the second half and Casemiro hit the post. Awful overall but a vital intervention to keep Højlund out in the 67th minute.
Ezri Konsa - 5
Important block to stop a pass across goal from Mount in the middle of the first half. Of all Villa’s defenders, he was the one who did his job to any kind of standard.
Pau Torres - 4
Gave the ball to Kobbie Mainoo in the second half and Højlund wasted the clear opportunity.
Ian Maatsen - 3
Turned by Harry Maguire in his own penalty area in the first half. Better in attacking areas but final ball didn’t match. Slack header backwards with United on the break gave Højlund a clear opening, squandered again. Nowhere for Amad Diallo’s goal for 1-0. Gave away the late penalty for 2-0.
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John McGinn - 5
Beaten too easily to give up a couple of early chances on Villa’s left and gave up possession in the middle in the middle of a poor start, but soon looked more like himself. Substituted for Tielemans at 0-0 (63).
Boubacar Kamara - 6
Picked out a nice long pass to Maatsen on the byline early on. Helped shut down Mount to support Cash in defensive areas. Gave the ball away dangerously early in the second half but improved as second half progressed. Substituted for Barkley at 1-0 (84).
Amadou Onana - 5
Essential contributions on the ball as Villa finally built some possession after a slow start. Substituted for Ramsey at 0-0 (63).
Marco Asensio - 5
Quiet from the start again but offered quality in the attacking third. Sensational first touch to bring down a long diagonal after quarter of an hour. Influence grew with and without the ball. Substituted for Olsen at 0-0 (45+4) after the red card.
Morgan Rogers - 4
Got skinned by Maguire in the Villa box and should have been punished. Rash in possession throughout the first half. Better footwork to win a corner just before the break. United able to get at Cash with little resistance on the Villa right. Nicked the ball off Altay Bayındır and scored the ultimate opportunist goal, disallowed by a referee who should have played on at 0-0. Scandalous. Substituted for Donyell Malen at 1-0 (84).
Ollie Watkins - 4
Barely had a touch in the first half, through no fault of his own. Marginal offside in the middle of the second half let him off the hook for wasting a good opening. Poorly executed through ball looking for Ramsey with 20 minutes left.
Substitutes
Robin Olsen (for Asensio, 45+4) - on for his last game as the understudy to an idiot. First couple of bits of handling were comfortable but United’s lack of quality was his best defender. Tremendous late save. 5
Youri Tielemans (for McGinn, 63) - not in the game. 3
Jacob Ramsey (for Onana, 63) - not in the game. 3
Ross Barkley (for Kamara, 84) - late substitute. N/A
Donyell Malen (for Rogers, 84) - late substitute. N/A