Tyrone Mings’ first Premier League goal secured a draw for Aston Villa and prevented Manchester United moving into the top five for the first time since 14 September.

Mings thought he was offside when he volleyed home two minutes after Victor Lindelof had given United their 64th-minute lead.

But the assistant referee kept his flag down and VAR proved he was correct to do so as Villa avoided defeat at Old Trafford for the first time since 2009.

Villa skipper Jack Grealish gave his side a deserved lead with a magnificent curling shot after 11 minutes only for United to equalise against the run of play just before the interval when a Marcus Rashford header hit the inside of a post before bouncing in off the back of former United keeper Tom Heaton.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men pushed forward looking for a late winner but Anthony Martial failed to convert their best chance as United had to settle for a second successive draw against a newly promoted team.

United’s equaliser came against the run of play and the lack of invention in midfield contrasted sharply with the threat posed by Jack Grealish.

There were sporadic boos for the home side at the final whistle but in a period where Tottenham and Arsenal have both sacked their managers, United are behind both in the table, putting Solskjaer under scrutiny, even if the United hierarchy remain supportive of the Norwegian.

Grealish a throwback

With his socks rolled down and his shorts pulled up, Grealish looks like a throwback to a different era.

He plays a bit like it too. Pulling wide to the left of a three-man support line to lone striker Wesley, the Aston Villa skipper seems a peripheral figure for much of the time.

But somehow, when Villa spark into life, he is central to it. United’s midfield were petrified every time Grealish ran at them. Most of the time, their only way of stopping the danger was to foul him.

For the goal, Grealish chased down an over-hit Anwar el Ghazi cross before fronting up Andreas Pereira on the edge of the penalty area, beating him with a deft feint to the right and finally sending his curling shot over David de Gea and into the roof of the United keeper’s net.

It was magnificent, way beyond anything produced by the hosts during another tepid 45 minutes.

Gareth Southgate was not at Old Trafford to witness it but it was another of those moments that makes you wonder how Grealish is still waiting for a senior England cap.

Had the 24-year-old turned home Trezeguet’s deflected shot shortly before Lindelof’s header, it would have been the first time he had ever scored twice in a game.

Man of the match - Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa’s skipper has been directly involved in seven goals in the Premier League this season (three goals and four assists) - no English midfielder has been involved in more

Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings:

“It’s a tough point and a well-deserved point. We made a few mistakes in the build-up to their goals, and they had a few chances, so we are satisfied with a point.

“I thought I was onside for my goal, but I didn’t want to celebrate just in case. I got back into position.”
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*The Guardian*
*Sunday, 1 December 2019*

Tyrone Mings’ quick-fire response grabs Aston Villa draw at Manchester United

The breathless fare made a fine spectacle but Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Dean Smith will hardly be happy at the time and space their teams allowed. Juan Mata was Solskjær’s sole change from the 3-3 draw at Sheffield United, the Spaniard replacing Phil Jones after not starting in the league since early October.

Smith’s XI was the same that beat Newcastle on Monday as he hoped to record a first Villa win here since December 2009.

Smith saw his captain, Jack Grealish, clattered by Andreas Pereira almost direct from kick-off, the latter operating alongside Fred in a midfield pair that would improve as the contest wore on.

Harry Maguire’s first action was to haul down Anwar El Ghazi along Villa’s right, the captain having been left trailing. Maguire was booked for this but worse was about to follow for his defence.

When Brandon Williams broke along the left he chose the correct pass to find a galloping Marcus Rashford inside. Suddenly Tom Heaton’s goal was his to find but the No 10 – as he can – miskicked badly. Now came Villa’s response. From the ensuing goal-kick El Ghazi crossed from the right and the ball sailed to Grealish on the left. As Pereira stood off, the No 10 moved inside and placed a curler beyond David de Gea, the keeper standing stock still.

If this brought cries of “Super Jack” from the Villa faithful, El Ghazi may have injured himself in the move as he was replaced by Trezeguet. United were stunned yet Fred showed a flash of class when dribbling out of a cul-de-sac along the right, motoring forward, then sliding Anthony Martial in. The No 9’s shot was straight at Heaton but here was some encouragement.

Defensively there was little, though. Grealish was running proceedings from his left-hand berth and when Maguire hesitated the forward hit Wesley with a ball virtually on De Gea’s goalline. Trezeguet finished the follow-up but this was ruled offside – Wesley appeared to be the guilty party – so United were lucky.

Villa were, simply, proving to be quicker and slicker. United’s issue was a lack of ideas and vision. Solsjkær had Mason Greenwood, Jesse Lingard and James Garner warming up as half-time neared.

But Fred then took a short corner to Mata who relayed the ball to Pereira. His cross, from the right, was met expertly by Rashford and his header hit a post, the back of Heaton and that was 1-1.

Despite this Solskjær surely ordered his team to wake up in his interval chat. An attack that had Mata in along the left suggested so but soon Aaron Wan-Bissaka made a hash of a clearance and Grealish was swinging the subsequent corner in. Rashford booted this away yet De Gea was next to give possession up when finding Maguire was simpler.

The contest now became a relentless back-and-forth affair. United got hold of the ball and roved upfield, winning a corner. Pereira delivered towards Maguire but he fouled. Villa moved toward towards De Gea’s goal and the move foundered. A neat Mata back-heel teed up Fred but a 20-yard effort was scuffed.

United were in the marginally higher gear. Williams claimed the ball and passed to Daniel James. The Welshman’s sprint down the left was followed by a cross but no teammate connected.

This lack of edge in front of goal was costly when Rashford, Williams, Mata and Fred interchanged passes and the latter dinked Martial the ball. A quality first touch and he was in but this was absent. Better from the Frenchman came when dazzling feet had him in on Heaton and the keeper was grateful to save.

United had become a blur of red. Mata’s penalty shout was turned down when clashing with Frédéric Guilbert, James overhit a pass to Martial close to goal, and Wan-Bissaka warmed the keeper’s fingers.

From the corner United scored. It was taken short and when Fred pinged the ball in the unfortunate Douglas Luiz flicked on and Victor Lindelöf headed in.

Old Trafford erupted but within 180 seconds all but the Villa contingent were silenced. After a corner, Matt Targett chipped a ball to the unmarked Tyrone Mings and, with Williams keeping him onside, that was the equaliser.

Solksjær threw on Lingard for the close, then Luke Shaw and Greenwood a little later. And while they peppered Villa’s area Martial’s lob over spurned a golden chance and Villa might have also grabbed a winner via a late break.
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*Sky Sports*
*Sunday, 1 December 2019*

*Jack Grealish scores stunner as Man Utd held to draw*

A stunning Jack Grealish goal opened the scoring inside 11 minutes.

There was a slice of luck for United’s equaliser as Marcus Rashford’s header went in off the back of Tom Heaton (42), before Victor Lindelof (64) nodded them ahead in the second half. However, the lead lasted only two minutes as Tyrone Mings’ (66) hooked finish sealed a point for the visitors.

Aston Villa began well and took the lead with an absolute wonder-strike from Grealish.

Anwar El Ghazi pinged a lovely diagonal ball to him on the left-hand side, with Andreas Pereira standing off the Aston Villa captain enough to allow Grealish to move into space before curling a sensational effort into the far corner from the tightest of angles. It came at a price though, with El Ghazi slipping as he made the pass, and he was eventually replaced by Trezeguet not long after.

The substitute thought he had doubled Aston Villa’s lead just before the half-hour mark - but it was ruled out for offside. Grealish flashed the ball into the area with confusion between Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire inside the six-yard box allowing Trezeguet to poke home. However, the linesman had his offside flag raised to rule it out and the goal was reviewed by VAR, which showed that Grealish’s heel was out of position and the decision to disallow the goal stood.

Despite being on the back foot for much of the first half, it was a fortuitous own goal that hauled United level in the 42nd minute. They took a short corner, with Fred playing in Juan Mata, who in turn picked out Pereira at the top of the area. He lofted a lovely cross in for Rashford, who nipped ahead of Ezri Konsa to nod the ball goalwards. But it bounced off the surface, onto the back of Heaton and into the net to count as an own-goal against the goalkeeper.

Both teams could have scored early in the second half. Heaton was called into action just before the hour mark as Anthony Martial tricked and turned his way through the area, with his shot forcing a leaping save from the goalkeeper. At the other end, Trezeguet’s attempted shot pinged off the legs inside the area before landing to the incoming Grealish at the back post, but he could poke it past the upright.

A minute later, and the hosts took the lead. It was scored at a similar angle to Grealish’s opener as Fred floated a lovely ball towards the back post, which was sent further on its way by the head of Wesley. It looked to be heading out of play but Lindelof had other ideas, losing his marker before rising up to nod the ball into the far corner on a tight angle.

The lead was short lived as Aston Villa equalised less than two minutes later. Matt Targett floated a wonderful forward pass over a cluster of players and Mings pulled away from the pack to hook the ball home, although he did not celebrate with the threat of a VAR check on the horizon. There was no offside flag raised initially and the replays showed that Mings was well onside, handing Aston Villa a much-needed and well deserved point away from home.

Man of the match - Jack Grealish

It was another superb performance from the Aston Villa captain at Old Trafford. He and Conor Hourihane caused Manchester United some real issues in the middle of the park, and it showed when he was fouled four times in the opening 20 minutes.

He took his goal with absolute confidence in his ability, curling home a stunning effort across the face of goal. Many players have tried the same and sent the ball flying into row Z. Grealish is leading from the front this season and his ability is surely becoming hard for Gareth Southgate to ignore.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith:

“I thought it was a good game, an exciting game. I thought we were good in the first half, we restricted them to a few chances and took the lead with a good goal through Jack. We had another couple of chances as well so I was pleased with the first-half performance.

“In the second half, we lost a couple of duels and it got their crowd up a little bit and we gave away a soft goal from a set piece - that’s the thing that will annoy me the most. There’s not a lot you can do about the second one, but there was a good spirit to come back from that and they put us under pressure at the end. But there were chances for both sides and it’s amazing how a game can turn.”