Following the 4-0 defeat to Brentford back in August, the thought of Manchester United heading into the final month of the season with more Premier League clean sheets than anyone else was unthinkable.
Less than a week after losing their first game of the Erik ten Hag era, going down 2-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day of the season, United were beaten up and spat back out again by the Bees, leaving them bottom of the Premier League table. It resulted in Ten Hag cancelling his players' scheduled day off the following day and forcing them to run 13.8km in sweltering conditions.
Since Ten Hag made that decision, United, with the exception of one or two bumps in the road, have not looked back, making undisputed progress, ending their six-year wait for a trophy and being on course for a top-four finish. They have also made it to their first FA Cup final since 2018.
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But before United can get caught up in the hype and excitement that surrounds the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final at Wembley on June 3, Ten Hag and his players must complete this season's main objective: secure a top-four finish. Sunday's 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford ensured the Reds have moved one step closer towards achieving that ambition, although nothing is mathematically secured just yet.
Bruno Fernandes scored the only goal of the game, finding the back of the net a few minutes before half-time to seal a slender, though fully deserved, victory for Ten Hag's troops. It was their fourth win in their last five league matches, highlighting that the Reds are finding form at just the right time.
Furthermore, although the performance required United to stand tall and be brave, certainly in the closing stages as Villa threw everything at them in the hope of grabbing an equaliser, it also marked a fourth clean sheet in their last five league matches, meaning the Reds have now registered 15 shutouts in the Premier League this season. It is a record the club ought to be proud of, particularly when they have been operating with a patched-up defence in recent weeks because of the injuries suffered by Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
In their absences, the likes of Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw have stepped up, forming an unlikely partnership. The likes of David de Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Diogo Dalot and Harry Maguire have also played their part in keeping four clean sheets in the last five games.
United's much-improved defensive record, despite the capitulations at the hands of Brentford, Manchester City (6-3) and Liverpool (7-0) this season, has been the bedrock of their improvements under Ten Hag. They are much more solid and assured, particularly at Old Trafford.
Sunday's clean sheet against Villa marked United's 10th clean sheet in 16 home league games this season, giving them a clean sheet record of 63 per cent. Nobody else in the division has got into double figures for clean sheets secured at home this season.
Although United's defensive record, especially at home this season, is something that Ten Hag and his players should take a great deal of pride in, conceding just eight goals on their own patch, it has highlighted how much they rely on keeping the opposition out to win games. United, as has been well-documented by everyone throughout the campaign, have not scored enough goals to blow teams away, highlighted by their tally of 11 league wins by a one-goal margin this season.
The Reds' biggest victory in the league this season is 3-0, a scoreline they have achieved against Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Leicester City. For a club renowned for being serial entertainers, it will be something they are planning to improve.
But the fact that United have been so defensively sound this season, certainly in recent weeks without their star centre-backs, should offer encouragement that next season, with the addition of a new striker, will be even better. Ten Hag has laid the foundations for success at the base of his team and he now wants to develop the top of it.
A strong and sturdy defence was missing last season, but Ten Hag has rebuilt it impressively. If United can improve matters at the other end of the pitch, 2023/24 could be prosperous.
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