Aston Villa continued their surge in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday, recording their tenth consecutive win in all competitions. The victory, driven by two superb goals from Morgan Rogers, keeps Unai Emery's side firmly in the title race, sitting third in the table on 36 points; just three behind leaders Arsenal.
The result also marked a historic milestone for the club, matching a winning run not seen since 1914, while leaving Manchester United languishing in seventh place, ten points adrift of their opponents.
Morgan Rogers broke the deadlock in the 45th minute with a moment of individual brilliance. Bringing down a difficult ball on the left touchline, the 23-year-old drove inside defender Leny Yoro before curling a precise shot past United goalkeeper Senne Lammens into the top corner.
United responded almost immediately in first-half stoppage time when Patrick Dorgu dispossessed Matty Cash near the penalty area. The loose ball fell to Matheus Cunha, who blasted a finish past Emiliano Martinez to level the score at 1-1 going into the break.
The second half began with a blow for the visitors as captain Bruno Fernandes failed to reappear, having sustained a suspected hamstring injury. Villa capitalized on the momentum shift in the 57th minute. Following good work from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins, Rogers once again found space to cut inside Yoro and curl another finish past Lammens.
The goal sparked wild celebrations from Unai Emery, who threw his jacket into the air, while Rogers became the first Villa player since Dion Dublin in 1998 to score twice in back-to-back Premier League matches.
Manchester United struggled to cope with a depleted squad, missing key players like Kobbie Mainoo, Bryan Mbeumo, and Amad Diallo due to injury or Africa Cup of Nations duty. Despite the absences, they had a golden opportunity to equalize midway through the second half.
Cunha, who had been United's most dangerous outlet, found himself unmarked six yards out but headed Dorgu’s cross wide of the target. Youngsters Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey were handed debuts as Ruben Amorim tried to salvage a point, but Villa held firm to secure their seventh straight league victory.
The aftermath of the match leaves both clubs in vastly different positions heading into the festive fixtures. While Villa look to equal a club-record 11 straight wins when they face Chelsea next, United faces an anxious wait regarding the severity of Fernandes' injury.
"I don’t have any news on him, but if a player scores and then gets injured... that’s usually not a good thing," Amorim noted regarding the situation, while Emery praised his team's developing resilience. "It wasn’t perfect today... But in the meantime, we pick up points, and I see the team developing in the way I would like to see."
