Man Utd suffer double injury blow as defensive pair limp off versus Aston Villa

Manchester United suffered a massive double injury blow as they slumped to a poor 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa that sees the pressure grow on boss Solskjær

Manchester United slumped to an unimpressive 1-0 loss to Aston Villa capping off a string of poor games in recent weeks.

United look uninspired and unimaginative throughout the game, which ended dramatically with an 88th minute Aston Villa goal, and a rare penalty miss by Bruno Fernandes.

To top off a bad day for the Red Devils, defensive duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw limped off injured during the match.

The Englishmen impressed this summer at the Euros and continued their fine form into the league, becoming vital parts of the United starting XI.

However, Shaw looked off the pace during the early stages of the game.

He received a booking early on and struggled against Villa’s Matty Cash before the English wing-back eventually came off injured.

Shaw had already gone down in the 26th minute before continuing to play, but he was then replaced by Diogo Dalot six minutes later.

Maguire has formed an impressive partnership with Raphael Varane so far this season, but the United captain left the field in the 66th minute.

Maguire had received treatment in the 54th minute and after failing to run off the injury, Lindelof came on in his place.

This means United have lost two of their first-choice back four and whilst it is still unclear how long they will be out for it can only bode ill for the Red Devils who have conceded in all but one of their last 16 games.

The injuries were worsened by another poor performance from a United team overflowing with star quality.

Bruno Fernandes shocked by skying a last-minute penalty that seemed to encapsulate a United performance.

The team has lacked a cutting edge and creativity going forward, having taken 55 shots in their last two games, almost half of them were off target, 21 were blocked and only ten were actually on target.

Pressure grows on Ole Gunnar Solskjær to find a solution as he seems to take one step forward and two back as United manager.

Despite bringing in a plethora of attacking talent, he seems unable to create a system to allow it to flourish, relying instead on moments of individual genius.

Similarly, United often look exposed in the middle of the park lacking a good enough midfield to link play, pass and protect the United back four.

In their last eight games against Leeds, Southampton, Wolves, Newcastle, Aston Villa, West Ham twice, and Young Boys United have only secured four wins.

On the other hand, Villa looked good again, proving after their admirable loss against Chelsea in the League Cup that they can come to the giants and take points off them too.

The 88th-minute header from Kortney Hause sealed the win but Hause was nearly hero turned villain after Edison Cavani’s header hit his arm to give the penalty away.

Villa created the better chances and for the first time since his dramatic homecoming to United, Cristiano Ronaldo started and failed to score.