Premier League - Vibrant Villa deny United

Eurosport - Sun, 23 Nov 12:08:00 2008

Aston Villa and Manchester United shared an entertaining goalless draw at Villa Park, as United failed to score in the Premier League for the first time since November last year.

Cristiano Ronaldo - 0

The result kept Sir Alex Ferguson's team in third, eight points adrift of pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill saw his side climb above Arsenal and into the coveted top four, just a point behind United.

The first half was an open affair, with both sides at ease in possession and space all over the pitch. But clear-cut chances were conspicuous by their absence and the teams were reduced primarily to long-range efforts.

On 13 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo drove in from the left and unleashed a fierce drive from 30 yards. But Brad Friedel was alert to the danger and produced a fine diving stop to deny the Portuguese midfielder.

Ronaldo was up against Nigel Reo-Coker on the left flank, and the makeshift Villa full-back put in an energetic display to somewhat stifle the FIFPro World Player of the Year.

Reo-Coker even found time to get forward himself, letting fly with a speculative effort from 35 yards. Edwin van der Sar gathered comfortably.

On the half-hour mark James Milner burst down the right and almost found Gabriel Agbonlahor with a curling cross, but Rio Ferdinand nipped in front of the striker to clear the danger.

United's best chance of the half fell to Park Ji-Sung five minutes before the interval, but the South Korean international was denied by a superb saving tackle from Ashley Young after being played in by Wayne Rooney.

Seconds later Rooney whipped over a dangerous cross from the right, and Park came agonisingly close to providing a decisive touch at the far post.

The first chance of the second half fell to Villa, when Young's cross-cum-shot forced Van der Sar to tip over the bar.

Just short of the hour mark Villa had appeals for penalty turned down when Agbonlahor burned past Nemanja Vidic on the left and cut inside the box. Agbonlahor went to ground, although replays showed the initial contact occurred outside the area. The referee awarded nothing.

Five minutes later United wasted a glorious chance to go ahead. Michael Carrick lofted a ball in to Rooney, who had time to compose himself before blasting a shot over the bar with just Friedel to beat.

With time running out Ferguson introduced Nani and Anderson at the expense of Carlos Tevez and a limping Ronaldo, but United could not find the breakthrough.

The last meaningful opportunity of the evening fell to Villa, when James Milner burst down the left flank and reached the by-line. The England Under-21 midfielder made his way towards goal, but his cut-back failed to find an onrushing Villa player and United cleared.

Will Tidey / Eurosport

Comment 32 - 51 of 91

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. 4k man u for life.

    From henry, on Sat 22 Nov 10:01PM

  2. Who is Ronny....?

    From kop it, on Sat 22 Nov 9:46PM

  3. Entertaining game. Though it lacked goals it wasn't lacking in quality with both teams playing well. A fair result and credit to Aston Villa and Martin O'Neill.
    As a United fan, I'm slightly disappointed that they couldn't get 3 points and capitalize on Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal failing to win (and score). I think this must be the first time in Premier League history that the top 5 teams failed to win and score on the same day.
    Will Aston Villa displace Arsenal as one of the "big four"? Too early to say, but they could legitimately claim to be one of the "big five" at this stage.
    United's 8 point deficit behind the joint leaders might look difficult to bridge but they do have a game in hand and they've now played all of their "big five" rivals away from home. All those teams still have to come to Old Trafford.
    Next league game is the Manchester derby and what a cracker that promises to be. I just hope United win it.

    From Dino, on Sat 22 Nov 9:45PM

  4. omg!! ronny u look so hot!!

    From l_kaif, on Sat 22 Nov 9:36PM

  5. I think the result cements Villa into the top four but still some way behind the big two of Chelsea and Man Utd. I don't really see much between Liverpool,Arsenal and Villa.

    From kop it, on Sat 22 Nov 9:25PM

  6. Great second half, happy with the result!As for the penalty decision it could have went either way.....as in it could have been a penalty or a free kick outside the area either way the ref got the decision wrong!

    From MichealS, on Sat 22 Nov 9:22PM

  7. As a Man U Fan I enjoyed the game - nothing gained and nothing lost. Well done to the Villa thought they'd have a go at it. Never was a certainty - last weeks Arsenal result warned us of that!

    From Marcus, on Sat 22 Nov 9:16PM

  8. That blatant penalty was an offence started outside the box - so get REAL!

    From Marcus, on Sat 22 Nov 9:10PM

  9. if anyone does fantasy football here, does anyone know how to get points changed, steinsson scored but only counted as an assist and i want this changed if anyone knows can you comment.

    From matty_is_fatty, on Sat 22 Nov 9:09PM

  10. well we have a game in hand and its good to see villa doing well this season as a man united fan i wish all the villa fans the best of luck and hoply you can beat liverpool this season and do us a favour

    From michael, on Sat 22 Nov 9:04PM

  11. WELL DONE VILLA!!!!
    CREDIT TO MARTIN HE HAS TURNED THING AROUND
    BIT MORE TALENT NEEDED TO SEE US TO THE FINISH

    From k, on Sat 22 Nov 9:03PM

  12. RAY A - LOL! "...English players instead of expensive foreigners.." How ironic that its actually English players that are the most expensive..and the Villa team cost LOADS more to assemble than Arsenal's.

    Good to see O'Neil continuing to prove what an exellent Manager he is though...

    From michael, on Sat 22 Nov 9:00PM

  13. andrew h at the end of the day united pay there wages week in week out. i'm a man utd fan and nani is the most selfish player in the team. he is a useless @#$% and is not good enough to play for us.

    From kevosryan, on Sat 22 Nov 9:00PM

  14. man utd are a team that take all of the glory aston villa played to the best
    standard that they could play

    From d.kelly387@..., on Sat 22 Nov 8:54PM

  15. Ronaldo is an arrogant boy who acts like a spoilt brat when things do not go his way. No way he is the best player in the world and I cannot wait to see his reaction when he loses this status to a real world class player like Messi or someone else who respects his fellow players more than Ronaldo does. What arrogance to say he is the 1st 2nd and 3rd best player in the world. Worlds best at whinging and diving like a prima dona ballerina, yes! Best footballer and man, NO!

    From Daithi, on Sat 22 Nov 8:53PM

  16. Man Ure drop yet more points...no title this year, girls.

    From Koppite 1973, on Sat 22 Nov 8:49PM

  17. andrew h what a @#$%

    From lyndsay_mike, on Sat 22 Nov 8:40PM

  18. ITS ABOUT TIME RONALDO GAVE UP DIVING HE IS SUCH A PRAT.ITS PRETTY POOR IF HE HAS TO RESORT TO THAT SORT OF PLAY TO GET ANYWHERE. DONT THE UNITED FANS REMEMBER WHEN HE GOT ROONEY SENT OF FOR ENGLAND

    From RAY A, on Sat 22 Nov 8:35PM

  19. "Young's cross-@#$%-shot"...?

    Good Christ

    From Alex, on Sat 22 Nov 8:32PM

  20. I'm a neutral and watched the whole game on Setanta.United were the better team but still should have lost 1-0 that cluts Vidic gave what should have been a blatant penalty.Nice to see new faces in the top 4 though.

    From jack torrance, on Sat 22 Nov 8:31PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account