Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa: 5 talking points as early McTominay goal seals the deal | FA Cup 2021-22

#3 Aston Villa's dismal run in the FA Cup continues

Aston Villa put up a good fight against United

Manchester United condemned Aston Villa to another early exit in the FA Cup. As a result, the seven-time winners' search for their first Cup title in the 21st century will have to wait until another season.

Steven Gerrard could not break Villa's dismal run in the Cup as it was their sixth consecutive campaign in which they were eliminated from the third-round fixture. The ongoing spell is the worst Cup run in their history.

They had a good outing on Monday and had as many as two goals disallowed in the second half. Danny Ings scored the first, which was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check, as Edinson Cavani was fouled in the buildup. Watkins then tapped in from close range with Ings being flagged offside this time.

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#2 David De Gea continues to impress and finishes with a rare clean sheet

United kept just their second clean sheet at home in 20 games here

Clean sheets have been hard to come by for the Red Devils this term. The result against Villa owed much to a solid performance by De Gea between the sticks.

He had to be on high alert throughout the game and thwarted almost everything Villa threw at him. The Spaniard was beaten in the first half by Watkins but was saved by the upright. Two goals were disallowed in the second half, which helped United keep just their sixth clean sheet of the campaign across all competitions.

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#1 Scott McTominay scored Manchester United's first goal of 2022

Manchester United v Aston Villa: The Emirates FA Cup Third Round

Manchester United's FA Cup triumph over Aston Villa was by no means a convincing win. But they did open their account for the year as the in-form McTominay scored the club's first goal of the year.

It was the Scottish midfielder's second goal in three games. He made a smart run into the box in the eighth minute and was aided by some shoddy defending from the visitors, whose poor marking afforded him a free header.

Marcus Rashford is not enjoying a great run of form as the English winger failed to pounce on a rebound from Mason Greenwood’s shot in the 74th-minute. United's other big names did not offer much going forward.

McTominay delivered an all-round performance with three shots on target, also attempting five tackles. His presence was key in breaking Aston Villa's momentum. He ended up with a Man of the Match award for this game.