Report: Pogba on target as United cast Villians aside cheaply

MANCHESTER United delivered on what they have recently done best on … winning! This time coming on the road away to Aston Villa in the form of a 3-0 victory as Paul Pogba scored his first Premier League goal in 15 months.

The result ensured United break a Premier League record which saw them become the first in the division’s history, to win four successive matches by a margin of three goals or more, as they extended their unbeaten run to what is now 17 games in all competitions.

Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd LIVE! Premier League result and latest ...

Setting them on their way on the night was Bruno Fernandes, who converted a controversial penalty before Mason Greenwood took his tally to four goals in three games just before the break. That man Pogba was responsible for the third after he picked out the bottom corner of the net from a Fernandes corner in the 58th minute to leave United one point outside the top four behind Leicester City, with just four matches to be played in the campaign.

Despite United’s recent knack for controlling proceedings, it was Villa who began brighter and Jack Grealish missed the target with a volley early on from a back-post Ezri Konza cross. The Villians came closer still when Trezeguet dispossessed Pogba and bent a low effort against the outside of the post.

It would be another minute before United got a penalty, thanks to Konza after Fernandes attempted a double drag-back to go beyond him, but his left leg came down into the defender, an act which the referee subsequently deemed worthy of a spot-kick.

The contentious decision stood after a VAR review and it was Fernandes, rather than Marcus Rashford, who stepped up to slot home United’s record-equalling 13th Premier League penalty of the season. Greenwood and Fernandes both came close before the former continued his fine scoring streak by blasting home right-footed in first-half stoppage time.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka came within a hair to adding the third early in the second half with a header that missed the target. Pogba, however, set the record straight not too long after as Fernandes picked out the Frenchman on the edge of the box from a corner. The World Cup winner steered his effort inside the post with the simplest of touches to complete the result.

Pogba’s compatriot Anthony Martial came close to adding a fourth, firing against the woodwork, but relegation-threatened Villa suffered no further misery. United will hope to make it a run of 18 unbeaten games when they line up against Southampton in their next game out at Old Trafford on Monday.