Aston Villa 2-1 Man Utd (Rogers 45′, 57′ | Cunha 45+3′)
VILLA PARK – If Manchester United really did want to cash in on Bruno Fernandes then they will now find out what life is truly like without him.
Talk about timing. In a week where Fernandes was quoted saying the club “wanted me to leave” in the summer, the midfielder hobbled off at half-time before Aston Villa capitalised to continue their Premier League title charge and best winning run for 111 years – now 10 straight.
Fernandes had pulled up in the 40th minute, and it was a bizarre moment, United’s captain stopping play unchallenged before feeling his hamstring, leaving fans holding their breath and contemplating the prospect of weeks or months without him.
A very rare sight for Manchester United fans – Bruno Fernandes substituted due to injury
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2025pic.twitter.com/2iVSOezmLC
The remainder of United’s season was flashing before their eyes. Just how difficult it would be, and how impotent their attack would look without the player who has scored twice as many goals (20) as any other under Ruben Amorim.
Only then, Fernandes continued. Nothing to worry about here, with the Portuguese seemingly shrugging off the concern and even going close to breaking the deadlock, his effort deflecting wide before a frantic finish to the half saw Matheus Cunha cancel out Morgan Rogers’ worldie for the hosts.
But any hope Fernandes was fit to continue was crushed at the break, and with centre-back Lisandro Martinez coming on, it was as blatant an acknowledgement that United truly have no one to replace him as Amorim could have mustered.
That is naturally the case for every club and their best player – see: Villa and Rogers in this current form – and the second half became a glimpse into United’s future for however long Fernandes may be out – “a while”, according to Amorim afterwards.
This was United’s first half of league football without him since May, with Fernandes unsurprisingly Amorim’s most used player at United and undeniably his most influential.
It made for grim viewing. The tone changed on a sixpence with United looking shell-shocked as all of their first-half endeavour evaporated when Rogers restored Villa’s lead with another curled effort, albeit one where Senne Lammens this time could have done better.
For United the onus was on Mason Mount to create, and with £74m man Benjamin Sesko lacking sharpness – he had missed a decent one-on-one in the first half – it was down to Cunha to provide the threat, but having done so much for the United cause in the first half the Brazilian then somehow headed wide when it looked easier to score.
Off went Sesko, on came Joshua Zirkzee, and with Amorim experimenting on the go he even changed tact and turned to a couple of United’s academy prospects. Jack Fletcher – the son of Darren Fletcher and a midfielder like his dad – took to the field before winger Shea Lacey also made his debut.
It was both a brilliant moment and a reminder of how thin this squad is, with these bare bones having been made barer without Kobbie Mainoo.
A suspension for Casemiro had seemingly paved the way for the midfielder to make his first Premier League start of the season, but instead conspiracy abounded after a calf injury was given as the party line for his absence from the matchday squad.
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We will have to taken Amorim’s word on that one. “Let’s focus on the players we have,” he insisted before kick-off, but Manuel Ugarte starting instead proved to be United’s first problem.
It wasn’t their last, and though United can take positives from this narrow defeat, the prospect of a prolonged period without Fernandes is concerning.
Cunha alone cannot carry the spark, and while Mount must raise his game yet another level – having impressed in recent weeks – to help lift any sense of impending gloom, they will need Sesko to find his shooting boots fast. Or else that narrow gap to the top four will only get wider.
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