There is simply no stopping this Aston Villa machine, cylinders pumping, exclusively handcrafted by Unai Emery, the manager who reacted to Morgan Rogers’ winning goal against Manchester United by launching his jacket into the night sky. “Birmingham, are you listening?” came the chorus from the home support but this was another victory with wider implications.
For now Villa, third and three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, are firmly in the title race, two more brilliant Rogers goals earning a 10th straight win in all competitions and rendering Matheus Cunha’s well-taken equaliser nothing more than a consolation. A frustrating defeat for Ruben Amorim was compounded by his captain, Bruno Fernandes, being forced off through injury at half-time.
This was always likely to be a high-octane occasion and within two and a half minutes Cunha sent a rasping first-time effort narrowly wide of Emiliano Martínez’s left post. Villa’s first opening fell to Ollie Watkins but after chopping inside Leny Yoro his delayed thinking allowed Ayden Heaven to intervene.
The chances were totting up, even inside the opening eight minutes. After Youri Tielemans pinched possession from Manuel Ugarte, John McGinn forced a save from Senne Lammens and then the United goalkeeper repelled Watkins from the rebound. From the subsequent corner Ian Maatsen’s throttled volley whistled a whisker wide, via Rogers’ right heel.
