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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Jack Flintham

Erik ten Hag's pre-match dilemma and other moments missed in Manchester United vs Aston Villa

Manchester United suffered defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday bringing to an end their nine-game unbeaten run.

Villa, managed by Unai Emery for the very first time, started the brighter and had a two-goal advantage inside 11 minutes. Leon Bailey grabbed the first with a powerful strike past David de Gea before Lucas Digne curled in a free-kick to double the lead.

The Reds regrouped and pulled one back with a big stroke of fortune as Luke Shaw's strike was deflected in for an own-goal by Jacob Ramsey. The youngster redeemed himself shortly after the restart as he turned home an Ollie Watkins cutback to put the game beyond United.

READ NEXT: United player ratings vs Villa

After a disappointing afternoon at Villa Park, here are four moments you may have missed from the defeat.

1) Erik ten Hag's captaincy dilemma

With Bruno Fernandes suspended for the trip to Villa Park and Harry Maguire not in the United team at present, Ten Hag had a big decision to make over who would wear the captain's armband. David de Gea was considered but was ruled out as a goalkeeper is sometimes too far away from the action, according to the Dutchman.

Casemiro was also in the running but it was deemed his grasp of English is not yet at the standards needed for him to communicate with his fellow teammates effectively. The decision was, therefore, made to give Ronaldo the armband.

2) Erik ten Hag keen to get his point across

The match was finely balanced at half-time with the Reds somewhat recovering from a nightmare start thanks to Ramsey's own goal. Ten Hag was about to embark on a huge half-time team talk.

Not content with letting his players wait on the pitch to restart the game after the interval, the Dutch coach went out onto the pitch before the second half to continue giving instructions. Considering United's start to the second half, his tactic didn't work.

3) Diogo Dalot suspension

It was unclear during Sunday's match what Dalot did to warrant receiving a yellow card but his booking in the 72nd minute was a costly one. The Portuguese full-back will miss United's trip to Fulham next weekend, the last match before the World Cup, through suspension.

Having accumulated five yellow cards, Dalot will miss the next Premier League fixture but he will be available in midweek when United face Villa again, this time at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup.

4) United's Villa run comes to an end

History was on United's side as they headed to Villa Park. Villa had not beaten the Reds at home in the league for 23 games before Sunday afternoon.

Since 1999, Villa had led United nine times but had failed to win any of their league meetings. They managed to address those stats on Sunday, securing the three points and a winning start for Emery.

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