United Review | Aston Villa at home

Manchester United 3 - 1 Aston Villa

Old Trafford continues to feel like a fortress under Michael Carrick

Author | Olivia T

We made  it five wins from five at home in 2026 under Carrick thanks to a huge result against fellow top four challengers Aston Villa.

A closer analysis of what happened

It was a tight and tense first half with little to separate the sides, but Casemiro broke the deadlock shortly after the restart. The Brazilian powered home his seventh goal of the season to give Manchester United the lead the performance deserved.

Villa hit back through Ross Barkley, briefly threatening to derail the afternoon, but United responded exactly as you would hope from a side pushing for the Champions League places.

With just under 20 minutes remaining, Matheus Cunha restored the lead after being picked out by Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese midfielder was at the heart of everything again, registering two assists on the day to take his tally to 16 for the season. That is now the highest assist total ever recorded by a United player in a Premier League campaign, and there are still eight matches left to play.

The job was finished late on when substitute Benjamin Šeško came off the bench to seal the points.

Great atmosphere again

After the match, the United boss and a number of players commented on how good the atmosphere was. The flags curated by TRA have been a great addition to Old Trafford. Imagine ever wanting ever to leave this place?

Best reaction 

Carrick also spoke with the media after the match, where he discussed the performance in more detail: "I was pretty happy with a lot of things. We looked a good team. Credit to them, they had a couple of spells in the game but for the most part we were dangerous. It was a big game coming off the defeat. The boys reacted incredibly well.

"Two good teams. It's not always going to be all guns blazing, edge-of-your-seat stuff. We were in a good place at half-time and wanted a little bit more. We knew we were capable of it and the boys were fantastic to finish it off."