The immediate events after Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2-1 on New Year’s Day were pleasing to see.
Almost every player for the home side surrounded Eric Bailly following a match-winning block at the death to deny Keinan Davis’ goal-bound effort. Villa deserved something from the game on the balance of play, but the Ivory Coast defender was having none of that.
There’s always the tendency to focus on attacking players alone when dishing out post-match adulation, but Bailly’s late intervention is the sort of moment that never goes unnoticed. For a United side that’d been building momentum with a ten-game unbeaten run since losing 1-0 to Arsenal in November, dropping two points rather than claiming all three vs the West Midlands side would have hurt.