Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez taunted Cristiano Ronaldo before Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty in added time on Saturday, with Manchester Unitedslipping to a 1-0 home loss in the Premier League.
An end-to-end affair at Old Trafford looked to be settled by Kortney Hause in the 88th minute, when the Villa defender headed the visitors in front.
Just moments later, however, Hause gave away a penalty as a handball was ruled against him.
United fans looked on in anticipation, waiting to see whether regular penalty-taker Fernandes would take the spot-kick or allow his fellow Portugal international Ronaldo to step up.
Despite Ronaldo’s clinical record from 12 yards throughout his career, the recently-returned United icon seemed content to let Fernandes take the penalty.
That was despite Martinez playing mind games, the Villa keeper shouting at Ronaldo “you take it, you take it!” while pointing at the 36-year-old and then the turf.
Fernandes indeed stepped up to the spot, but the midfielder blazed his penalty well over the crossbar to ensure Villa left Old Trafford with all three points.
The victory was Villa’s second in a row in the Premier League following their 3-0 win against Everton last weekend, while the result marked United’s first top-flight defeat this season.
United had entered the game against Villa on 13 points, level with joint-leaders Liverpool and Chelsea but behind on goal difference.
Chelsea were also beaten in the Premier League’s other early kick-off, however, losing 1-0 to Man City as Pep Guardiola’s side shook up the title race early in the campaign.
