United finally find some festive cheer at happy hunting ground Villa Park as Darren Fletcher makes his comeback and a Welbeck double helps the Champions thrash Villa 3-0 to avoid a third consecutive league defeat.
Manchester United headed to Villa Park in vital need of taking home three points after two consecutive home losses to Everton and Newcastle. Paul Lambert's Villa team had already caused an upset at home against Manchester City and a win would see them go level on points with United.
Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck returned upfront for Manchester United but the best news for their travelling fans was that Darren Fletcher took a place on the bench, almost a year since his last appearance. Ron Vlaar was left out again with a calf problem for Villa but Antonio Luna returned to bolster the home side's defence.
Villa made a decent start to the match as Albrighton had two shots in the opening ten minutes, although both were tame and De Gea collected them with ease. United soon began to dominate the play though and it took just under a quarter of an hour for Moyes' men to go 1-0 up. Rafael did brilliantly to hold off Sylla and get to the byline before sending a fantastic cross into the box. Januzaj got up well to head the ball goalwards and it had beaten the outstretched arms of Guzan but couldn't beat his right-hand post. Fortunately for United it hit the upright and rebounded off to Welbeck who was in exactly the right place to tap in from 6 yards.
Just over three minutes later United's class shone through again as they doubled their lead when Welbeck scored his second of the afternoon. Cleverley started the attack as he collected a poor pass from Baker just inside the Villa half. He passed to Welbeck who quickly spotted Valencia and distributed the ball out wide to the winger. Valencia waited for Welbeck's run into the box before he sent a low cross in for the England international to slide on to and loop over Guzan and into the net.
The away team weren't being closed down as they had been in their last two games and they enjoyed lengthy spells of possession as Valencia constantly found space down the right channel. The Ecuadorian created a fine chance for Rooney in the 28th minute of the first half as he beat his man and cut the ball back for United's number 10 on the edge of the box. Rooney hit it well but it sidled just wide of the far post.
Shortly afterwards Valencia was involved again, this time setting up a chance for Welbeck to grab his hattrick with a lovely defence splitting through ball. However, Welbeck's resulting effort echoed his strike partner's hit from minutes earlier as he sent the ball wide of the same post.
Villa struggled to trouble De Gea with Benteke in particular looking starved of service and failing to put his mark on the game. It wasn't long before United found their momentum from the first half and scored their third in the opening seven minutes of the second half. Cleverley was the unlikely goalscorer as he started off a move by winning the ball just inside the Villa half after a poor pass from Luna. He then gave the ball to Rooney who ran at the defence before completing the one-two as he threaded a through ball back to his fellow England international. Cleverley had made a brilliant run into the box and matched it with a nice finish past Guzman for his first goal for exactly a year to secure United were well out of sight.
Villa had a rare opportunity when Evans and Rooney failed to clear the ball properly in the United area. Albrighton showed skill to pick the ball up from a tight angle, turn and get a snap shot away that stung the hands of United's Spanish stopper.
United fans were in good spirits in the away end and they reserved their biggest cheer for the 70th minute when Fletcher completed his much anticipated return and came on to replace Giggs. It was a good cameo from the Scottish midfielder who will be a welcome addition to United's injury-hit squad.
It was a strong performance from the Champions as they controlled the game throughout and looked dangerous on the attack. Welbeck wasted an opportunity for his hattrick when he shot over late on for United, who saw the final minutes of the game out with ease to ensure that they picked up three points for the first time in four League games. United's next game in the Premier League comes against West Ham, where they will be hoping to build on this impressive performance with a win at Old Trafford.
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