Manchester United advanced to the next round of the Carabao Cup after defeating Aston Villa in a six-goal thriller on Thursday night.
Carabao Cup
Result: Manchester United 4-2 Aston Villa
Date: 10 November 2022
Venue: Old Trafford
Man United rotated the team that lost against the same side in the Premier League this past weekend, as Cristiano Ronaldo was not included altogether while Harry Maguire was recalled despite being selected in the England 26-man Qatar World Cup squad.
The sides were cautious in the early stages, with United looking to make headway but they were easily contained by Villa.
Erik ten Hag's charges had the first meaningful opening on 24 minutes after Tyrell Malacia's deflected cross found Diogo Dalot unmarked in the box but he guided his effort over the crossbar.
The visitors had their first attack a couple of minutes later as Douglas Luiz gave United a scare with an in-swinging cross that was headed off the line by Scott McTominay at the near post.
However, the pace of the game dropped as Unai Emery's troops were happy to sit back in numbers and watch United pass the ball around without any real threat.
The second stanza got off to a quick start though, as Ollie Watkins broke the deadlock for Villa three minutes in from a run of play after firing a low strike past goalkeeper Martin Dubravka following a through ball by Jacob Ramsey.
The Red Devils had an immediate response, as Anthony Martial restored parity with a composed finish in the box after a square pass by Bruno Fernandes.
As the game opened up, Villa went ahead again around the hour-mark after Dalot deflected Leon Bailey's header at the back post into his own goal.
Ten Hag reacted with triple change to jack up the performance, as Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho and Anthony Elanga entered the fray, with Donny van de Beek, Martial and Fred making way.
United were fired up as Rashford eventually levelled matters once more six minutes later with a low strike after pouncing on a mix-up by the Villa defence in the box.
The Red Devils put their foot on the gas with 15 minutes left as goalkeeper Robin Olsen made two blinding saves to keep out a strike by Fernandes and a header by Maguire.
However, Olsen undid his brilliant work for Villa as he gave a ball away trying to play out from the back four minutes later and the visitors were punished as Fernandes fired home a strike that took a huge deflection off Tyrone Mings.
United finished strongly, as McTominay eventually sealed the deal in the last minute after he poked Garnacho's delightful cross past Olsen from close range.
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