Manchester United 2-0 Aston Villa: Match Report

Unai Emery's team come up short when push comes to shove at the theatre of so many broken Villa dreams

They came so close, yet they were so far away.

Aston Villa had a Champions League place within reach late on Sunday afternoon, moving up to fifth in the live Premier League table courtesy of Everton’s goal against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

It wasn’t the way Villa wanted to return to Europe’s premier competition but needs must. Unai Emery’s men were badly fumbling their end of the bargain against Manchester United at Old Trafford but were, surprisingly, holding on for a draw when the Toffees scored elsewhere.

In the end, it was especially cruel that a draw would have been enough.

Villa’s final fixture of the Premier League season was an outright stinker when they barely needed to perform to overcome a wounded United wilting in the shadow of a defeat in the Europa League final.

They shot themselves in the foot, limped into what should have been a shock lead, then got their heads blown off by an atrocious refereeing error that will have damaging and far-reaching implications for the club.