Aston Villa 0 : 0 Man United

Man United had their first goal-less encounter this season at the Villa Park courtesy of a defiant display by the resurgent Aston Villa. It was a late kick-off and with that United had the chance to take advantage of knowing the results of its title rivals - this time fortunately there were stalemates both at Stamford Bridge and Anfield. And United had a golden chance to cut the gap by taking full points against a team that hasn't won at home against United for the last 15 years! But it wasn't going to be as easy as the history suggested. Aston Villa were coming off a confident 2-0 win against Arsenal and have looked like serious contenders to break into the top-four this season.

Well, when you're talking about Man United having a goalless draw, you're bound to think that they might have missed a number of chances. But it wasn't the case. Aston Villa looked ever so resurgent. It was a match that really didn't have too many easy chances. It was a hard-fought game with both teams wrestling for possession and I have to say United didn't look the most comfortable side they're used to be. To make matters worse, United had a forward line consisting of Rooney, who'd just come off a 10-day illness break and Carlos Tevez who was filling in for the injured Berbatov and both were looking quite off the pace. Add to that, Ronaldo wasn't allowed to play with any freedom as he was double-marked by Reo Coker and Milner. Villa's strength in this match was their ability to close United's players and almost choked United from playing their natural free-style game.

Agbonlahor perhaps had the best chance for Villa in the first half, which was really a half chance according to me while United's was a Ronaldo strike from about 25 yards that really tested Brad Friedal. Second half was not much different. United pressed hard for a goal. Rooney had the best chance of the match when he could have volleyed Carrick's smart overhead pass, but the not-so-fit forward hardly troubled the goal-keeper with his shot. No goals notwithstanding, most of the match was played with quite some flair by both the sides, specially in the mid-field but they lacked the vision to take it into the opponent's penalty box and come up with one last killer ball. The match ultimately ended in a goal-less stalemate, which almost seemed to be the order of the day.