Raphael Varane liked the 'spirit' of Manchester United's performance against Aston Villa.
United welcomed Villa to Old Trafford on Monday night in the third round of the FA Cup, as they began their campaign in England's oldest competition - the FA Cup seems United's most realistic chance of silverware this term - with a strong starting line-up.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring for United within 10 minutes, however, Villa won at Old Trafford in September and they proved to be tricky opposition once again. They even managed to get the ball into United's net twice, albeit both efforts were ruled off.
United weathered the storm to win the game and to progress to the fourth round, but it was yet another lacklustre display.
Varane, who delivered a strong performance on an individual basis against Villa, admitted it was a 'difficult match'.
"It was a difficult match," Varane admitted to the BBC.
"We had to suffer a lot on the pitch but together and I liked the spirit of this match.
"We had the opportunity to score more goals. When it was not possible to play higher up the pitch we were compact and did not let them play easily.
"We had to be aggressive and as a result it is good. We are happy. We need more confidence, we need to be together and I think we are in a good way."
United play Villa again on Saturday in the Premier League.
