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  • Kick-off: 12:45
  • Venue: Old Trafford
  • Attendance: 67934
  • Referee: Dowd, P

Live Commentary

90mins

After three minutes of stoppage time the referee blows his whistle and it's all over with United getting the three points thanks to Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal

86mins

Scholes' effort is blocked then the ball falls for Van Nistelrooy but Djemba-Djemba manages to clear it as well off the line

83mins

Solano thinks he has earned a corner but the referee says no as Villa press again

81mins

Hughes breaks forward for Villa but the visitors look beaten with less than 10 minutes left

79mins

Van Nistelrooy looks for a second and earns another United corner

76mins

Alan Smith comes on for the impressive Rooney

72mins

In a double change for Villa, Nolberto Solano also comes on for De la Cruz

72mins

Whittingham is brought off with Luke Moore replacing him

70mins

Scholes forces Sorensen into another great save but the flag was up anyway

68mins

The home side are much more relaxed now after the goal with Ronaldo's introduction seeming to make all the difference

65mins

Van Nistelrooy makes it 1-0 tapping home at the back post after Ronaldo's cross had taken a slight deflection

64mins

Rooney runs at the heart of the Villa defence but van Nistelrooy is offside

62mins

Mellberg heads towards his own goal and Sorensen has to clamber to clear before Ronaldo's header is then well saved by the Villa keeper as well

58mins

Cristiano Ronaldo also enters the field with Park making way for him

58mins

Gabriel Heinze comes on for John O'Shea for United

57mins

Djemba-Djemba heads goalwards but the referee penalises Villa for a push

56mins

Rio Ferdinand has to be alert to clear the ball for a Villa corner as the visiting fans raise their voices again

53mins

Park is sent clear but his shot is poor and a good chance goes begging for the home side

52mins

The second half has begun in a similar fashion to the first with United having much of the possession but lacking the necessary penetration

50mins

Rooney seems to have sustained a groin injury and looks to be in some discomfort

47mins

Rooney flicks the ball delicately to van Nistelrooy who shoots low but it's just wide

45mins

Villa get the second period underway at a sunny Old Trafford

45mins

It's all square at the break with United doing much of the attacking without creating too many clear-cut chances

44mins

Scholes is sent clear but he manages to drag his shot wide

43mins

Rooney is booked for a typical act of petulance by the young England forward

40mins

Sorensen has to be alert at the other end now and chests the ball well before clearing it from the edge of his area

38mins

Whittingham chases a ball in the United box but new keeper Edwin Van der Sar is quick off his line to claim the ball

36mins

Villa have defended well so far and will be hoping to hold out until half-time with the score still 0-0

33mins

Rooney tries his luck again but this time it's blocked by Hughes

31mins

United launch another attack and from a corner Scholes' ball to Rooney is volleyed goalwards by Rooney but it's cleared by Villa

29mins

Park fires a great effort goalwards but Sorensen manages to touch it onto the bar and then behind for a corner in what is the best moment of the half so far

27mins

Van Nistelrooy is penalised for a foul and Villa get the chance to launch another attack

24mins

Despite a lively opening at Old Trafford, neither side have yet been able to carve out a meaningful chance

21mins

Villa are forced into an early change as Jlloyd Samuel has picked up an ankle knock, he is replaced by former United player Eric Djemba-Djemba

19mins

Villa appear to have weathered the early storm and are beginning to asert themselves on the game now

17mins

Pete Whittingham does well and earns Villa a corner from which De la Cruz's eventual cross is blocked by Rooney

16mins

Ulises De la Cruz appears to be fouled but much to the dismay of the Villa players the referee waves play on

15mins

The home side have made the much better start at Old Trafford but have yet to create a clear-cut chance

12mins

Rooney is fouled again - this time by Olof Mellberg - who is booked

10mins

Wayne Rooney is brought down and it's another free-kick for the home side but van Nistelrooy's shot is just wide

8mins

Neville's headed ball back across goal is eventually cleared by the Villa defence

6mins

Sorensen has to be quick to dive and deny van Nistelrooy

5mins

Liam Ridgewell concedes a corner as United continue to dictate the early pace

4mins

Ji-Sung Park attacks the Villa defence and Aaron Hughes brings him down for a free-kick in a dangerous position but Paul Scholes' effort is blocked

2mins

A good lively start to the game in Manchester as Gary Neville's dangerous cross is plucked from the air by Thomas Sorensen

0mins

The action gets underway at Old Trafford as United entertain Villa in their first home league game of the season

Match Report

Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival with a shade over half an hour to go proved the turning point in a game where Manchester United's patience eventually edged away their frustration.

United's Portuguese winger replaced South Korean wide man Park Ji-Sung in the 59th minute - a move which was to finally clinch maximum points from two games for the Red Devils.

Wayne Rooney found Ronaldo on the right and his 66th minute cross was headed across his own goal by Aston Villa central defender Olof Mellberg. Waiting to pounce at the far post was Ruud van Nistelrooy and he touched the ball over the line from close range for the only goal of the game.

Without several key players, Villa had made life hard for United, although they failed to manage a single shot on target in the game.

With new signing Kevin Phillips injured, Juan Pablo Angel was too often an isolated figure up front.

At the back, it was a different story where Villa, boosted by a five-man midfield, were solid.

Van Nistelrooy blasted a 30-yard free-kick narrowly wide in the 11th minute, but it was to be another 17 minutes before United again threatened the Villa goal.

United's main threat of the first half came from Park and, when he was set up by neat passing between Rooney, van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes, the South Korean's fierce shot from the left side of the Villa box was brilliantly turned on to the bar and over by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

Three minutes later, Villa were almost caught cold when Scholes lofted his corner to Rooney a yard from the Villa penalty area and his superb shot with the outside of his left boot was cleared off the line by Peter Whittingham.

After United's burst of pressure, Villa again tightened up, although Scholes almost broke the deadlock in first-half injury-time when his vicious 30-yard shot swerved inches wide of a post.

Two minutes after the break, Rooney set up van Nistelrooy, whose shot from the left corner of the box went narrowly wide of a post.

The busy Park was again near soon after, finishing a neat one-two with Rooney in the box, but seeing his shot skid across goal.

Ronaldo and Gabriel Heinze replaced Park and John O'Shea after 59 minutes and it was to prove the catalyst from another surge of United pressure.

In the 62nd minute, Ronaldo's cross from the right was met by van Nistelrooy, whose flying header was brilliantly saved by Sorensen.

Within seconds, the Danish goalkeeper was again Villa's saviour.

This time, Darren Fletcher provided the cross from the right and it was Ronaldo, craning his neck to meet the ball, whose header was magnificently tipped away by Sorensen.

Another fine move by United down the right in the 65th minute almost brought a goal.

Fletcher found Gary Neville racing away in acres of space and his cross was inches away from being turned in by van Nistelrooy at the far post.

But United had less than a minute to wait before the Dutchman scored his second goal of the Premiership campaign.

Villa had Sorensen to thank yet again in the 72nd minute when he produced another fine acrobatic save, this time to keep out a Scholes header from Neville's right-wing cross.

Villa boss David O'Leary brought on winger Nobby Solano, the subject of Liverpool interest with striker Milan Baros moving in the opposite direction, and he sparked some life into his side's wilting attack.

Villa's former United midfield man Eric Djemba-Djemba cleared van Nistelrooy's effort off his line with four minutes to go, but it did not matter as referee Phil Dowd ruled the Dutchman offside.

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo - Sparked his side into life by making the only goal of the game for Ruud Van Nistelrooy seven minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Manchester United Team

Aston Villa Team

Manchester United

Aston Villa

Corners

117

Fouls

1321

Goal attempts

183

Shots off target

50

Offsides

31

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