Van Nistelrooy on Target

By David Hobbs
August 20 2005

Ruud van Nistelrooy's second-half strike was enough to ensure United kept their 100% Premiership run of the season despite the efforts of a stubborn Aston Villa.

Manchester United 1
Ruud van Nistelrooy, 66

Aston Villa 0

Ryan Giggs continues his spell on the sidelines with a persistent chest infection and wasn't included in the 16 man United squad. Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench, as did Alan Smith, who impressed in a reserve fixture with Bolton earlier this week.

Ji Sung Park was preferred in the midfield role for United as Villa were missing a number of players including summer-signings Kevin Phillips and Patrik Berger.

United struggled to break down a stubborn Villa side, looking to add more early points on their tally after a 2-2 draw with Bolton last week.

Olof Mellberg had trouble dealing with Wayne Rooney and picked up a yellow card just 10 minutes in. J'lloyd Samuel was replaced by former Red Devil 10 minutes later with no sight of injury.

The Cameroonian added some solidity in midfield and showed Sir Alex Ferguson the tough player he can be. Wayne Rooney took out his first-half frustration on Djemba-Djemba before the interval and received a caution.

Ji Sung Park, who hit the woodwork earlier in the first half, was replaced by Ronaldo on the hour mark as was John O'Shea, who made way for Gabriel Heinze. 

The substitutions proved just the ticket as Ronaldo crossed for Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman struck from 6 yards out to break the deadlock. Villa introduced Luke Moore and Nolberto Solano soon after.

Paul Scholes forced Thomas Sorensen to punch away his close range effort as United looked to kill the game off.

Scholes found himself in the referee's book late on to help United hold on to their victory. The Red Devils temporarily lead the Premiership with 6 points out of 6.

Final Score: Manchester United 1 - 0 Aston Villa
Att: 67,934

Manchester United: E Van der Sar, G Neville, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, J O'Shea (59 G Heinze) , D Fletcher, R Keane, P Scholes, W Rooney (78 A Smith) , R van Nistelrooy, J Park (59 C Ronaldo)

Aston Villa: T Sorensen, A Hughes, L Ridgewell, O Mellberg, J Samuel (20 E Djemba-Djemba) , U De la Cruz (73 N Solano) , G McCann, S Davis, G Barry, P Whittingham (73 L Moore) , J Angel

Refereed By: P Dowd