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Game #4703

Saturday, 23 February 2002

Attendance: 67,592

Lost

Premier League

7th (-)

Manchester United

Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟥

Old Trafford

Villa remain winless in four games since the resignation of John Gregory as they are beaten for the first time under Graham Taylor but remain seventh in the Premier League table thanks to their pre November form.

Manchester United

1-0

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | None

KEY MAN

George Boateng, gift

RELATED MATCHES

MATCH TIMELINE

🕒 | HT Manchester United 0-0 Aston Villa
🥅 | 50’ Goal, 0-1, (Manchester United), Ruud Van Nistelrooy
🔁 | 63’ Sub off, Mustapha Hadji, Sub on, Thomas Hitzlsperger
🔁 | 79’ Sub off, Jlloyd Samuel, Sub on, Dion Dublin
🕒 | FT Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa

ON THIS DAY

Villa lose for the first time since John Gregory's departure but remain in 7th place.

Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96

Manchester United

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆
Last Trophy: 2000-01

FIXTURE HISTORY

Previous 5 vs. United: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟨 🟥

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 2001-02 |
Matchday | #38 |
League Game | #27 |
Manager Game | #2 |
Saturday, 23 February 2002

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Worksop, 2002-2003
Referee: Jeff Winter | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Middlesbrough, 1992-2004
Kick off: 1.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Score: 🟥 0-1
FT Result: 🟥 Lost
Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟥

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jeff Winter | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Middlesbrough, 1992-2004
Previous 5: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟨
Last Match: 🟨 21 April 2001, Villa 0-0 Southampton, Villa Park.
Cards: None

CARDS

Villa

None

Manchester United

None

TEAM NEWS

Peter Schmeichel, Gareth Barry and Steve Stone (first start in 7) replace Peter Enckelman, Lee Hendrie and Paul Merson.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 27.18 |

Oldest Player |
GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 | 38.29 |

Youngest Player |
RB Jlloyd Samuel | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 20.92 |

MANAGER

MANAGER

Graham Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Alex Ferguson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |

Aston Villa

GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 |
RB Mark Delaney | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |
RB Jlloyd Samuel | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 |
CB Olof Mellberg | 🇸🇪 |
M Mustapha Hadji | 🇲🇦 | 🔁 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 |
M Gareth Barry | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Steve Stone | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
F Darius Vassell | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Juan Pablo Ángel | 🇨🇴 |

Manchester United

GK Fabien Barthez | 🇫🇷 |
RB Gary Neville | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
LB Denis Irwin | 🇮🇪 | 🔁 |
LB Mikaël Silvestre | 🇫🇷 |
CB Laurent Blanc | 🇫🇷 |
M Juan Sebastián Verón | 🇦🇷 |
M Nicky Butt | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Roy Keane | 🇮🇪 |
W David Beckham | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 🇳🇴 |
CF Ruud van Nistelrooy | 🇳🇱 | ⚽ |

SUBSTITUTES

🔁 M Thomas Hitzlsperger | 🇩🇪 | for M Mustapha Hadji | 🇲🇦 | 63’ |
🔁 CF Dion Dublin | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for RB Jlloyd Samuel | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 79’ |

SUBSTITUTES

🔁 | LB Denis Irwin | 🇮🇪 | (CB Ronny Johnsen | 🇳🇴 |)

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

GK Peter Enckelman | 🇫🇮 |
M Hassan Kachloul | 🇲🇦 |
F Boško Balaban | 🇭🇷 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

GK Roy Carroll | 🇬🇧 |
CB John O'Shea | 🇮🇪 |
M Paul Scholes | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Diego Forlán | 🇺🇾 |

SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Homegrown: 3/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 6/16
Homegrown: 4/16

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 3/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/16

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Not recorded

UNAVAILABLE

Not Recorded

Player Abbreviations:

GK : Goalkeeper

LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back

CB, D : Centre Back, Defender

M, W : Midfielder. Winger

F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward

🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance

DEBUT APPEARANCES

FINAL APPEARANCES

MATCH STATS

Not recorded

TABLE

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

PROGRAMME

Quotation Marks.png

MATCHDAY QUOTES

“It was frustrating to lose a goal in the way we did.

"I dislike losing 1-0 to the type of goal we conceded - you can't make those basic errors."

Graham Taylor.

*BBC Sport*
Saturday, 23 February, 2002

*Man Utd edge out Villa*

Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s golden run continued as Manchester United cemented their position at the Premiership summit against Aston Villa.

Van Nistelrooy struck his 29th goal of the season and ended United’s Old Trafford frustration against Graham Taylor’s Villa.

It was hardly vintage Old Trafford fare - in fact in parts it was decidedly ordinary - but Sir Alex Ferguson will gratefully accept the victory to turn up the heat on their title rivals.

And Van Nistelrooy was equally grateful to accept a gift from his Holland team-mate George Boateng in the 49th minute that set him up for his latest strike.

The Premiership pace-setters dominated possession, but lacked a cutting edge until Van Nistelrooy’s vital intervention.

Boss Taylor insisted his Villa side had come to Old Trafford to attack, but there was little evidence of such bold intent as they failed to trouble United’s defence.

Villa goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel received a predictably rapturous reception on his return to Old Trafford - and United’s attack extended the generosity in a lack-lustre first half.

Argentine Juan Sebastian Veron was one of few influential United figures, and he was the architect of a move that should have given his side an early lead.

Veron’s fourth minute pass allowed Roy Keane to leave Van Nistelrooy clear, but he shot uncharacteristically wide.

Schmeichel’s most uncomfortable moment in the opening period came when he plunged at the feet of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but otherwise he was well protected.

Villa contributed to the lack of quality in the first half by constantly squandering possession, but they were not punished as United’s finishing was worse than wayward.

England World Cup hopeful Darius Vassell was handed a more defensive role by boss Taylor, although he showed a flash of inspiration after 38 minutes when he sent an overhead kick wide.

All Villa’s comfortable resistance was undone after 49 minutes - and Boateng was the culprit as he gifted Holland colleague Van Nistelrooy the opener.

Boateng ran into trouble instead of clearing, and when Keane and Solskjaer robbed him, the predatory Van Nistelrooy was on hand to turn and beat Schmeichel.

It was the signal for United to attempt to force home their advantage, with Veron troubling Schmeichel and Van Nistelrooy shooting narrowly off target.

They failed to grab a second goal, but it was more than enough against a Villa side high on perspiration but short on inspiration.