TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand pulled no punches towards one Aston Villa star after Manchester United secured an important Premier League win at Villa Park.
Erik ten Hag’s men picked up crucial points in their race to finish in the Premier League top four, with Manchester United currently sixth in the league table.
United’s win on Sunday has left them five points adrift of Aston Villa and six points behind fourth-place Tottenham after 24 Premier League matches this season.
Rasmus Hojlund scored in his fourth consecutive Premier League match for United, with the Denmark striker firing the Red Devils into a first-half lead at Villa Park.
However, Aston Villa rallied back in the second half and Unai Emery’s men cancelled out Hojlund’s opener through Douglas Luiz in the 67th minute.
Scott McTominay came off the bench, replacing Marcus Rashford in the second half, and restored United’s advantage with a bullet header past Villa No 1 Emi Martinez.
United are undefeated in their last six matches across all competitions, with the Red Devils’ last defeat coming in a 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest near the end of 2023.
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Ferdinand’s reaction to Man Utd’s result
Rio Ferdinand took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and praised Manchester United for their big Premier League win at Villa Park.
The United legend praised Scott McTominay for finding the all-important winner and hilariously said that the second half was not the best for his “heart rate.”
Posting to his 11.6m followers, Ferdinand wrote: “McSauce [McTominay] coming up with some big goals this season… [three] points.
“This gung-hooooo [second] half’s not good for my heart rate.”
However, Ferdinand couldn’t pass up the opportunity to troll Douglas Luiz after the Villa midfielder’s bizarre celebration after scoring past United No 1 Andre Onana.
The former United defender posted a photo of Luiz’s celebration and asked him if he ‘was okay’ on X, adding a crying face emoji and several laughing face emojis.
“U ok @dgoficial,” Ferdinand wrote, tagging Luiz’s handle on X.
Erik ten Hag hailed McTominay’s impact
Speaking after the 2-1 win over Villa, Erik ten Hag praised McTominay for his impact off the bench and said that the United star is an “example for many players.”
“He is [a super sub] but he can also start,” he told BBC Match of the Day 2 (via BBC Sport).
“You have to credit a player like Scott. He is an example for many players these days.
“There are not many players any more who are ready for every minute they can be on the pitch.
“Today, we have seen another example. He is always ready to come on and make a difference.”
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