Matheus Cunha has said Manchester United must play with more courage despite showing ‘character’ in the club’s comeback draw against Aston Villa.
Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to rescue a result against Aston Villa in a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United had endured a nightmare start when Villa led 2-0 inside four minutes, as Alysson opened the scoring, and Nicolas Jackson scored a second moments later.
Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot, before Youri Tielemans scored against his former side to level before the break. However, defensive vulnerabilities continued to plague United after half-time, as Villa restored a two-goal cushion just eight minutes after the interval. First, John McGinn slammed home a penalty before Leon Goretzka made it four for the visitors.
United looked to be heading towards another damaging defeat, until a late fightback. Joshua Zirkzee turned in to increase the energy around Old Trafford, setting the stage for a last-gasp equaliser from Patrick Dorgu, as Zion Suzuki flapped at a corner kick.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Cunha said United were disappointed with their defensive lapses and called on the Red Devils to show more courage going forward. United head into the international break in the relegation places.
“So disappointed, after the other night we talked a lot about how not to concede goals and then change our mentality to come again. We did it again, conceded goals. We can’t do that – we need to play like Man Utd and go forward and create chances, play with more courage. After we concede goals we show character but if we do this before we can win much more games.”
Asked about the frustration from the home fans, Cunha added: “Before we played everyone is a fan. You understand why they are frustrated. This is completely fine, we understand. We are on the pitch and we need to manage this. We need to change the mentality – be in the game. I don’t think the fans are against us it’s just that they want to see us perform and win games.
“Before anything else we need to look inside to us – the players, the staff. It’s a huge club and to feel something like this [being in relegation zone] is not normal – we need to come back. Many more things to do, we have lots more games. We need to learn from the last seasons. We can not do the same things. We’re good enough to go and change our situation – fight for us, the players and staff. We only ask for the fans to keep doing what they are doing because it helps us.”
Read – Arsenal man White ‘deserves to open new chapter’ with England
See Also – Five of the best Premier League away kits in 2026/27