Manchester United played out a cagey goalless draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park to ease the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag in front of watching part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Dire defensive displays against Tottenham and Porto had left Ten Hag under scrutiny but he responded by dropping Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans and an improved showing followed, albeit without offering much in attack.
Maguire had to go off with a leg injury at half-time but the 36-year-old Evans continued to impress as Villa, showing signs of fatigue following their famous Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday, struggled to break them down.
Morgan Rogers fired narrowly wide in the first half and Youri Tielemans forced a save from Andre Onana after the break but it was United who went closest to scoring, with Bruno Fernandes, available after his red card against Spurs was overturned, crashing a free-kick off the bar.
A low-quality game finally opened up in stoppage time, with Diogo Dalot making a vital goal-line block from Jaden Philogene and Alejandro Garnacho seeing an attempt to put Fernandes through on goal intercepted during a United counter.
The draw extends United’s winless run to five games in all competitions and ensures they have made their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, with only eight points from seven games, but it may at least earn Ten Hag a reprieve as they head into the international break.
Ten Hag’s side remain in 14th place, while Villa fall three points behind third-placed Arsenal in fifth place.
Harry Maguire had to come off injured at half-time
