Jonny Evans produced an accomplished performance to keep out Aston Villa (Picture: Getty)
Dimitar Berbatov believes ‘everybody on the pitch’ in Manchester United’s goalless draw with Aston Villa should be ‘ashamed’ that Jonny Evans came away with the man-of-the-match award.
An under-fire Erik ten Hag opted to switch up his centre-back pairing at Villa Park, with Harry Maguire and Evans starting in place of Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez.
But injuries to Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui forced United to shake things up again at the halfway stage as De Ligt and Victor Lindelof were both introduced.
Now 36 years of age, Evans never looked out of place against the likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey in this afternoon’s cagey Premier League encounter.
The Northern Irishman also managed to keep Jhon Duran quiet after the in-form striker was brought on the final 30 minutes in the wake of his midweek Champions League heroics against Bayern Munich.
Bruno Fernandes came closest with a free-kick that hit the cross bar before the visitors wasted a golden opportunity to take the victory in stoppage time, with Alejandro Garnacho misplacing a pass to his captain, who was clean through on goal.
Evans was later named man of the match for his assured showing at the back and Berbatov slammed the rest of United’s players for allowing their veteran team-mate to win the award.
Berbatov was shocked by United’s display (Picture: Getty)
‘I’m trying to find the right words here,’ the ex-United and Tottenham attacker said in Sky Sports studio shortly after the final whistle.
‘Everybody on the pitch today should be ashamed because Jonny Evans, credit to him, he’s 36 years old, and he’s man of the match.
‘Everybody younger than him should take notice and just, I don’t know, next time do better.’
Ten Hag’s side have endured a dismal start to the season (Picture: Getty)
The result leaves Ten Hag’s men stranded down in 14th place, a position which Berbatov finds ‘unbelievable’ for a club of United’s stature.
‘I think the criticism will continue to grow because United need to win, to get the points,’ he added.
‘They’re 14th in the table which is unbelievable.
‘The only thing to correct it is getting the points but with the way they are playing at the moment, that is going to be hard to do.’
The Red Devils are languishing down in 14th in the Premier League table (Picture: Getty)
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Evans insisted it was still a ‘privilege’ to pull on United’s colours despite the team’s recent struggles.
I just enjoy every moment on the pitch now. Every game I go into, I just get that buzz for it. You really appreciate it, enjoy it and try to make the most of it,’ he told Patrick Davison.
‘It’s a privilege to play for this club and I’ve had a long affiliation with it.
‘The pressures that come with it… it’s a part of it but it’s a privilege too and you can see the fans at the end there, the support they’ve given the team, I have to say they have supported the players massively over the years and it’s great to see.’
Evans was pleased that United managed to avoid defeat for Ten Hag’s sake, with speculation surrounding the Dutchman’s future dominating the pre-match discussion.
‘It was great for him. The other night you could see it on him, the emotion of letting that game slip away with how big a game it was,’ he continued.
‘So to go out there and put in a performance for him, you could see that everyone was running themselves into the ground.
‘I’m pleased for him that he got a half-decent result today.’
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