Manchester United fans made their position clear on Victor Lindelof after he made his first appearance of the season in the Premier League clash against Aston Villa.
Erik ten Hag’s men travelled to Villa Park on Sunday for their final Premier League match ahead of the October international break.
Manchester United had suffered a humiliating defeat in the Premier League in their last outing, with Tottenham inflicting a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford last month.
The Red Devils returned to action on Thursday for their Europa League campaign and United blew a 2-0 lead against Porto in the first half of their clash.
However, United managed to salvage a point during their visit to the Estadio do Dragao after Harry Maguire scored an injury-time equaliser in the 3-3 draw.
Ahead of the Aston Villa encounter, the Red Devils had won only two of their opening six Premier League matches under United manager Erik ten Hag.
Villa, on the other hand, picked up four league wins in six matches before Sunday’s match and even beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League in the midweek.
Lindelof returns for Man Utd vs Aston Villa
Victor Lindelof’s last major appearance for Manchester United ahead of the Aston Villa match came in the 2-1 FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May.
The 30-year-old Swedish defender, who is out of contract next summer, missed the opening weeks of the 2024-25 campaign due to injury.
However, Lindelof had featured during the pre-season tour in the summer, with the Sweden international playing in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in the United States.
Lindelof returned to the United first team and made the bench for the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham and the 3-3 draw against Porto, with the United star an unused substitute.
The United centre-back was among the substitutes for the Aston Villa clash and Erik ten Hag turned to the Swede for the second half of the match at Villa Park.
Villa and United played out a 0-0 draw in the first half before Ten Hag made a double switch after the break, with Harry Maguire withdrawn due to an injury.
Ten Hag’s other change included Noussair Mazraoui being pulled off and replaced by Lindelof, who played at right-back instead of his preferred central position.
Man Utd fans react to Lindelof return vs Villa
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, wasted no time reacting to Lindelof’s rare appearance for the Red Devils this season.
Lindelof picked up a booking late in the second half and the Red Devils defender was relatively steady with his overall performance against Aston Villa.
But Red Devils supporters were confused by Ten Hag’s substitution and could not “fathom” how the Lindelof change could turn the tide of the match from the right.
“I can’t believe in October 2024 we’ve started with Maguire and Evans in defence together and now Evans and Lindelof are in the back four,” one fan said.
Another added: “Lindelof at right-back is totally normal. No need to panic.”
“Forgot Lindelof played for United,” someone else tweeted.
A fourth posted: “People will say I’m moaning and that’s fair enough, but why is Lindelof on to play right-back, when [Liasndro] Martinez is on the bench and can play left-back, which would allow [Diogo] Dalot to go back to his natural position!”
While a fifth tweeted: “I sincerely cannot fathom how Lindelof helps in this match.”
“Needs explanation on [this] Lindelof sub, man,” an X user commented.
Somebody else wrote: “Lindelof has barely got past the halfway line. How the hell did he replace Mazraoui?”
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