There’s so many positives that we can extract from this game, it’s difficult to know where to start. OK, well it’s the result, obviously. You have to go back to August 1995 for the last time we beat Man Utd in the league and back again to November 1983 for the last time it happened at Old Trafford.

Naturally the highlight from the game is Gabby’s 21st minute goal, but MON’s men were true to the gaffer’s word and came right out of the blocks looking to get at Utd. It’s so much more encouraging to see the team attacking Man Utd on their own patch, even if they were a little weakened by injuries, instead of setting themselves up to defend the inevitable onslaught.

Alex Ferguson conceded that the first half was pretty even and that Villa possibly deserved their 1-0 lead. He’s being a little generous as his side had the majority of possession, but if he thinks that it was a thrilling, end-to-end, attacking first half, then he’s most definitely right. There’s no question that this Aston Villa side reserve their best, most exciting football for the bigger sides. A little more consistency would be nice, but when you see performances likes this you tend to care less about the lacklustre games.

It’s speculative at this stage, but with this being Stewart Downing’s third full game, it’s really starting to look like his inclusion in the side is revolutionizing how Aston Villa play football. Milner once again joined Petrov in the middle, flanked by Ashley Young on the right and Downing on the left, at least for the first 5 or 10 minutes. I think we’ve discussed how Ash and Downing swap wings at will fairly frequently already, but it’s going to be a major feature of this side for the rest of the season.

Milner again played his heart out in the centre, following the two wingers looking to link up at every opportunity. Stan ran miles to mop up at the back. This is a central pairing that really works, both players are grafters from first to last whistle.

Both Gabby and Heskey gave the Utd back line plenty to be concerned about and it looked clear that there was a goal in at least one of them somewhere during this game. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait too long.

The real praise has to be reserved for the back line though. Despite Utd’s second half dominance and throwing no less than Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen & Dimitar Berbatov at the task of getting back on terms, Brad Friedel didn’t really have much to do beside stay focused and keep a Berbatov effort out with his fingertips.

Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar were huge. On the rare occasion that one was caught flat footed or out jumped, the other was there to cover. They were everywhere during this game restricting Rooney to only one decent first half chance and keeping recent hat-trick hero, Michael Owen pretty much anonymous during the second half.

But for me, the collective stars of the show for Villa are our two full backs. I don’t think you’ll find a braver, more committed, more determined and skillful pair than Luke Young and Stephen Warnock. Both spent considerable time on the turf receiving treatment for genuine injuries picked up in the call of throwing themselves into absolutely everything. Warnock did have to take a trip down the tunnel just after the hour, hopefully he’s OK. Luke Young was practically knocked flat out after a full on collision with Ji-Sung Park, but insisted on playing on, despite not exactly looking like he knew where he was for a while.

Despite Warnock needing to head off to the treatment room, it was nice to see James Collins get on the pitch after he was included in the squad for the first time in a few weeks following a groin injury. The versatility of the defensive personnel is another massive bonus to this team. Cuellar made room for Collins by moving to right back and Luke Young covered for Warnock on the left. We’ve all seen this enough to not be concerned in the slightest, despite the opposition.

No one would have won any prizes for predicting that Utd would push Villa back during the second half, but the visitors never looked like they were capitulating in the manner as the Tottenham game at VP. That said, bringing John Carew on for Emile Heskey, who may have had a slight thigh injury, with 16 minutes left seemed a little strange when we could have perhaps benefited more from an extra body in the middle than up front at the time.

Still, even though Carew came on and struggled to make any impact, no one could right off the chances that he could pop up to head in a late winner if underestimated.

MON made a much more conventional swap for the last 10 minutes when Nigel Reo-Coker came on in place of the rapidly tiring Stewart Downing. It was really all hands to the pumps for the final stages, but it’s likely that NRC was told to join Milner and Petrov in the middle, flanked by Gabby and Ash, with Carew up front on his own.

And that was that. Our first league victory over Man Utd in 14 years. Can’t find a fault anywhere among the Villa players. Every single one of them gave everything they had, not just defensively, but they also frequently stretched Utd’s weakened back line and got their just rewards.

It was a thrilling game, as is so often the case when we meet the very best teams, the only mystery is how the game finished with only a single goal. The re-match at Villa Park should prove interesting.

No average position map this time. The changes at the back distorted the starting players’ positions and the Young/Downing/Milner combination continues to make a mockery of the forward positions. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring it back, but I’d rather see us continue to play this flowing, attacking, unconventional football that makes average positioning a nonsense to be honest.