Manchester United played out a cagey goalless draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park to ease the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag in front of watching part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Dire defensive displays against Tottenham and Porto had left Ten Hag under scrutiny but he responded by dropping Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans and an improved showing followed, albeit without offering much in attack.
Maguire had to go off with a leg injury at half-time but the 36-year-old Evans continued to impress as Villa, showing signs of fatigue following their famous Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday, struggled to break them down.
Morgan Rogers fired wide in the first half and Youri Tielemans forced a save from Andre Onana after the break but it was United who went closest to scoring, with Bruno Fernandes, available after his red card against Spurs was overturned, crashing a free-kick off the bar.
There was a let-off for United when Marcus Rashford avoided a second yellow card for a trip on Leon Bailey in the second half, and a low-quality game finally opened up in stoppage time when Diogo Dalot made a goal-line block from Jaden Philogene and Alejandro Garnacho missed a golden chance to put Fernandes through on goal.
The draw extends United’s winless run to five games in all competitions and ensures they have made their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, having taken only eight points from seven games, but the battling display should at least earn Ten Hag a reprieve going into the international break.
Ten Hag’s side remain in 14th place in the Premier League, while Villa fall three points behind third-placed Arsenal in fifth place.
Meanwhile, Noni Madueke’s equaliser rescued Chelsea in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Nottingham Forest that ended the Blues’ five-match winning run on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca’s side fell behind to Chris Wood’s strike early in the second half at Stamford Bridge.
England winger Madueke hauled Chelsea level but the hosts couldn’t find a winner despite their numerical advantage in the closing stages.
Forest had to play the last 12 minutes with 10 men after James Ward-Prowse was sent off.
Chelsea had won their previous three league games — and five in all competitions — to raise hopes that Maresca is the man to lift the west Londoners out of their long malaise.
Being held by Forest was a setback but Chelsea still go into the international break in fourth place in the Premier League.
Skysports