In what was an interesting affair, Manchester United beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Old Trafford to go level on points with first-place Liverpool.
A second half penalty from that man Bruno Fernandes proved to be the difference as Manchester United edged Aston Villa in an entertaining encounter.
Both sides were in impressive form prior to the fixture and were both unbeaten in their last five league outings.
There was all to play for as a win for United would see them go level on points with Liverpool at the top. For Villa, a win would have taken them up to third place and within touching distance of top spot with a game in hand.
The game started lively from both sides and there were chances at both ends in search of an opener.
McGinn came closest for Villa via a close range shot that De Gea did just enough to put out of his goal.
Against the run of play, United got the lead in the 40th minute after a cross from Wan-Bissaka found Martial who headed past Martinez with an easy finish.
Villa came back firing in the second half and had to rely on De Gea to make a number of acrobatic saves to keep them in the game. An Aston Villa equalizer was inevitable after a pass from Grealish found Bertrand Traore who fired home from close range to level the scoring in the 58th minute.
No better script would have been written than one which involved Bruno Fernandes scoring the first penalty of 2021.
United only had to wait for two minutes to restore their lead after Paul Pogba was brought down in the area.
Of course, Fernandes stepped up to score the resulting penalty and his 11th Premier League goal of the season which proved to be the winner.
It was a game where brilliant goalkeeping from both sides reduced the number of goals that could have been in the game.
United are now level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table. If there was any doubt they were title contenders, they have answered the question perfectly for sure.
The Red Devils are now unbeaten in their last 10 league games and are easily the most ‘in-form’ side at the moment.
Up next for United is the EFL Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester City next Wednesday before they begin their FA Cup campaign with another home game against Watford next weekend.
Player ratings
Manchester United: De Gea (8), Shaw (7), Maguire (), Bailly (7), Wan-Bissaka (6), McTominay (5), Pogba (7), Fred (6), Fernandes (7), Rashford (6), Martial (7),
Aston Villa: Martinez (8), Targett (7), Mings (6), Konsa (6), Cash (6), Luiz (5), McGinn (6), Traore (7), Grealish (8), El-Ghazi (7), Watkins (6)
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