Vidic: Villa Shut Up Shop

Nemanja Vidic felt Aston Villa's stifling tactics were the reason United failed to score in a league game for the first time in a year.

The Reds were much the better side but only created a handful of chances against a well-drilled Villa outfit, for whom pacy Gabriel Agbonlahor was the only out-and-out attacker.

"When a team defends with 10 players for the whole game, it’s hard to create chances," Vidic told MUTV. "We had a great strike from Ronaldo, Rooney had an opportunity and a few chances from set-pieces, but we couldn't score."

Vidic was involved in the game's major talking point during the second half as he got into a tangle with Agbonlahor and the striker eventually went down just inside the box, but referee Chris Foy waved away Villa's penalty claims.

Vidic continued: "The referee could have given the foul 30 yards from goal, but once we reached the box I touched the ball and I'm sure it wasn't a penalty. Agbonlahor is quick and today they defended and used his pace to surprise us."

With Liverpool and Chelsea also being held to goalless draws, United missed out on the chance to close the gap at the top, but Vidic knows there will be plenty more points dropped between now and the end of the season.

"We knew we had a good opportunity to get closer to Liverpool and Chelsea but we didn’t take it and now we need to focus on the next game," the Serbian added. "The season is long: Chelsea and Liverpool drawing shows the top teams are going to lose points at home this season."