Dean Smith expressed his disappointment with Aston Villa’s first-half performance against Manchester United but felt his side showed more of their true character after the break as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
Anthony Martial headed the hosts into a half-time lead in the New Year’s Day encounter before Bertrand Traore levelled matters in the 58th minute with his third goal in four games.
But Bruno Fernandes settled the Premier League encounter from the penalty spot shortly afterwards when Douglas Luiz was adjudged to have brought down Paul Pogba in the area.
“I’m disappointed,” head coach Smith told VillaTV post-match.
“I’m disappointed especially with the first-half performance, it wasn’t near the levels we’ve shown so far.
“There was no tempo about us, I thought the first 15 minutes, it felt like it was a testimonial match.
“They were better than us in the first half, deserved to be ahead, and I got into them a little bit at half-time, told them to up their levels, there were too many unforced errors in the first half.
“Second half was more of what we’re about, we got the equaliser.
“Straightaway, I thought Douglas got too tight with Pogba and standing on the side I thought it was a penalty.
“Looking back at it, I don’t think it is now. I thought the official should have been sent to the side to have a look, that’s what VAR is there for, because there was so much doubt about it.
“Having watched it back, it looks like he trips himself up.
“But the second-half performance is more of what we’re about, we played well at times in the second half but first half wasn’t good enough and we need to be better than that.”
You can watch Dean's full interview below...
