Second Half Brace Secures Villa Victory

By David Hobbs
January 23 2005

Two goals in as many minutes from Louis Saha and Paul Scholes was enough to see off Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday as Manchester United prospered to an impressive 3-1 victory. The Red Devils now go past Arsenal into 2nd spot - for the mean time at least!

Second Half Brace Secures Villa Victory
To view post-match reaction for this game, click here

Manchester United 3
Ronaldo 8
Saha 69
Scholes 70

Aston Villa 1
Barry 53

Two goals in as many minutes from Louis Saha and Paul Scholes was enough to see off Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday as Manchester United prospered to an impressive 3-1 victory.

Gareth Barry's fine second-half strike cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's earlier opener but frontmen Louis Saha and Paul Scholes netted in quick succession to secure all three points.

United temporally rise into 2nd place in-front of Arsenal by 2 points, but still remain 11 points behind Chelsea following their win against Portsmouth.

Despite skippering the Red Devils in their midweek FA Cup reply win against Exeter City, Ryan Giggs was dropped to the bench to rest a hamstring injury that's been troubling the Welshman over recent weeks. Darren Fletcher returned to midfield and Roy Carroll stepped back in-between the sticks.

Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand also returned to action following injury.

Cristiano Ronaldo stamped United's authority in the game early on, almost identically like the Exeter game, when the Portuguese winger drove the ball past Thomas Sorensen courtesy of Louis Saha's feeding pass.

Saha himself could have snatched a confidence-boosting goal earlier on, but the Frenchman's heading let him down again as he nodded over fro close range.

Villa found themselves in more bother as Mark Delaney had to be replaced shortly after the deadlock was broke, by De la Cruz.

United's attackers continued pile the pressure on Aston Villa's defence and indeed goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen as Wayne Rooney forced the Dane to dive low and save his side's blushes.

David O'Leary's side had a chance of their own soon after as Nolberto Solano unleashed a powerful thunderbolt from 25-yards, only to see it saved by Roy Carroll.

Strikers at both end had something to be embarrassed about as the first-half progressed. All of Louis Saha's hard running work was let down by a weak finish and Juan Pablo Angel's header was executed even more weakly.

After the break brought saw the team fail to convert even more golden chances. However, Gareth Barry tried his luck from the edge of the area and it paid off as Roy Carroll was left to watch the midfielder's strike hit the back of the net.

Wayne Rooney was a constant thorn in Villa's backside and set up Louis Saha's deflected goal. Liam Ridgewell was the unlucky player that the ball brushed past, but Saha will claim the much-needed goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the architect of Paul Scholes' easy header as the midfield-maestro poked him into an empty goal.

United held onto that scoreline and there is no doubt David O'Leary will moan about the size of his squad in a post-match interview!

Final Score: Manchester United 3 - 1 Aston Villa
Att: 67,859

Manchester United: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher (Fortune 45), Scholes (O'Shea 73), Keane, Ronaldo, Rooney (Giggs 73), Saha

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Delaney (De la Cruz 11), Ridgewell, Mellberg, Samuel, Solano (Luke Moore 74), Davis, Berson (Hitzlsperger 45), Barry, Hendrie, Angel

Refereed By: M Halsey