Luke Shaw admitted that Manchester United were “sloppy” against Aston Villa and were fully deserving of the defeat on Sunday afternoon.
United came into the match unbeaten in nine matches, but put in a poor performance to be beaten 3-1 at Villa Park in Unai Emery’s first game as manager. Villa were 2-0 up after just 11 minutes, with Leon Bailey finding the bottom corner before Lucas Digne curled a free-kick past David de Gea.
Alejandro Garnacho and Cristiano Ronaldo saw shots saved by Emi Martinez before Shaw halved the deficit with a fortuitous deflection off Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey. United could not build on the goal however and Ramsey picked out the top corner just after the break to put Villa two goals ahead once again.
United had kept six clean sheets in their previous seven matches in all competitions and hadn’t lost since the Manchester derby on October 2. But Shaw accepted that he and his teammates did not deserve anything out of this game.
"We lost the game in the first 20 minutes of each half, we knew they were going to come out, new manager and the crowd would be behind them," he told the BBC. "In games like this, if you start slowly then we will lose the game. We weren't good enough.
"We always going to believe we can win the game, even at 2-0 down. We spoke about starting well in the second half but conceded again, then it's a mountain to climb and the game is done. We started sloppy, gave the ball away too easily. That is not good enough. We suffered today, we did not deserve to win."
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United manager Erik ten Hag gave a very similar assessment in his post-match interview. The Dutchman was furious with his players, who defended terribly to surrender their good run of form.
"We lose the game at the start of the first half and second half, that is unacceptable. They looked more fresh, more ready. The result is clear, it never lies. In football you always get your own earnings. Today we were not good enough," Ten Hag told BBC Sport.
"After a long time this has happened, I said it was up to us. We didn't keep the ball, we didn't get the right organisation, didn't follow the rules and lost battles. Our players have experience.
"You have to read the game, get the right organisation and not concede two goals. That was totally unnecessary. We need to be more sharp. You have to be compact and stand on the ball. Everyone has to win their own battles, we didn't, that is disappointing. We didn't get the right organisation. We created chances and good chances at 2-1. But you are really disappointed to concede at the start of the second half."
United have the chance to make amends when they face Aston Villa again in the League Cup on Thursday before playing Fulham next weekend in their final match before the break for the World Cup.
