Manchester United pip Aston Villa to close in on Liverpool
Manchester United closed in on the pole position in the English Premier League (EPL) on Friday after a 2-1 home win over Aston Villa.
The victory put them level on points and games played with champions and leaders Liverpool.
Manchester United trail their traditional rivals on goal difference with both teams on 33 points from 16 matches.
Liverpool travel to Southampton on Monday.
Manchester United stretched their unbeaten league run to 10 games as Bruno Fernandes capped another fine individual performance with a penalty kick.
This was after Bertrand Traore had cancelled out Anthony Martial’s opener for the home side.
The hosts had the upper hand in the first half and Martial forced an acrobatic save from Emiliano Martinez.
He later buried a superb diving header past the Aston Villa goalkeeper after Aaron-Wan Bissaka’s cross in the 40th minute.
The visitors came close through Ollie Watkins before Traore got on the end of a sharp Jack Grealish pass at the far post.
He beat Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea with a slick shot from close range in the 58th minute.
But Aston Villa’s joy was short-lived as Fernandes drilled his penalty kick into the bottom right corner three minutes later.
This came after Paul Pogba went down under a challenge from Douglas Luiz, with the spot-kick given after a VAR check.
Reuters/NAN
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Economy
SEC set to deliver sustained zero trade fail rate in T+1 settlement cycle: DG
The DG said the focus would be on full delivery-versus-payment discipline across custodians, brokers and the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS).
Lagos
Lagos residents decry soaring corn prices
A corn trader, Justina Odion, blamed the high retail price on increased wholesale costs.
NationWide
Afam Okeke wins NBA general secretary election with 8,478 votes
The live results portal showed that a total of 82,167 voters were accredited for the general election held on Saturday.
States
Tinubu is pillar of my infrastructural development: Gov Sani
The governor said that the N1 trillion Light Rail Project will commence in the next two months.
States
Students killed as troops foil abduction attempt in Borno school
He said that the terrorists reportedly gained access to the facility with the assistance of suspected collaborators
Rights
Civil society organisations key to strengthening Nigeria’s democracy: CDHRÂ
He said civil society organisations serve as a bridge between the government and the people.
