Well, the day was finally here. Aston Villa’s annual trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United and ‘penalty’ wasn’t the only word of the day – we also had the added bonus of referee Mike Dean to boost our spirits.
Now, I’ll be absolutely honest here. I have no idea how we played as I was otherwise engaged earlier today, so as Sod’s Law usually works against me, I’m actually not that surprised to see that we took a tight and narrow 1-0 victory courtesy of a late Kortney Hause effort.
I’m also not that surprised to see that Manchester United’s obligated penalty came in the 93rd minute and amidst calls for an Football Association inquiry, Bruno Fernandes made up for his previously cheaply won penalty when fouling Ezri Konsa and channelled his inner Chris Waddle and blazed it over the bar.
Our first win at the Theatre Of Cheats since 2009 and it seems every neutral seems to agree we weren’t only good value for the three points, but having had the better chances on the day the scoreline should’ve been slightly more comprehensive.
Onwards and upwards.