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• Villa draw buys Ten Hag a little time, says Neville

  Gary Neville believes Manchester United bought Erik ten Hag time with their 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, but is not sure how much.

  United are winless in their last five games in all competitions, with their stalemate at Villa Park the fourth draw in that run, having also lost 3-0 to Tottenham in their last home match.

  Ten Hag's side have won just three of their opening 10 matches in all competitions, while their eight points in the league cements their worst-ever start to a Premier League season.

  Only 19th-place Southampton (four) have netted fewer goals than United (five) in the competition so far, while only in 1972-73 (four) have the Red Devils ever netted fewer in their first seven matches of a top-flight campaign.

  Against a Villa side who beat Bayern Munich in their last outing before this meeting, a draw could be seen as a good result, but Neville believes that shows the "low bar" the team is currently working with.

  "It's a small step forward," Neville told Sky Sports. "Before the game, if you offered any Man Utd fan, player or coach a draw, then they would have snapped your hand off.

  "That's where, at the end of the game, when you see Erik ten Hag's interview, there's an element of relief because it keeps the wolves at bay for a couple of weeks at least. It gives them a little bit more time.

  "I don't think anybody who thought a major incident would happen after the game thought it would happen with a draw. They always thought it would need to be a difficult day or difficult defeat like it was last week against Tottenham. I think it buys Ten Hag a little bit of time.

  "It's Manchester United's worst start in Premier League history so we can't celebrate. When we're thinking it's a decent point when you draw at Villa, it tells you how far Villa have come - but it also tells you how low the bar is for United in this moment in time."

  Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in the off-season, continues to insist that he has the backing of the club's hierarchy despite the less-than-stellar start to the campaign.

  However, the pressure is starting to pile on the manager once more, with United failing to score in each of their last three Premier League games, equalling their worst run without a goal in the competition under the Dutchman (also a run of three in both December 2023 and April 2023).

  While Neville does not think the club will rush into a decision on Ten Hag's future, he admits they might have to if things have not changed by the November international break.

  "The club did make the decision to keep Ten Hag in the summer, so they won't want to reverse that decision within the first six or seven games," Neville added.

  "They have just got to hope [something happens] in this next couple of weeks - through maybe a reset, some thinking time, some planning.

  "Manchester United fans, coaches, players have talked about this new structure that surrounds Ten Hag, it needs to go to work quite quickly in the next few weeks.

  "If the next international break comes around and Manchester United are still in that 13th, 14th position in the league, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure.

  "The next few weeks are critical in making sure they can somehow get some momentum for the rest of the season so that Ten Hag can keep his job."

• Real Sociedad 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Sucic stunner salvages point for hosts

  Luka Sucic scored a stunning late equaliser to ensure Real Sociedad held Atletico Madrid to a 1-1 home draw in LaLiga on Sunday.

  Atletico had taken an early lead, Antoine Griezmann bringing down a lofted ball before setting up Julian Alvarez with a delightful backheel, and the Argentine scored after just 51 seconds. 

  Jan Oblak then made a string of fine saves, including a double stop against Martin Zubimendi and Nayef Aguerd, as the hosts dominated possession.

  Eventually La Real's pressure paid off and there was nothing the goalkeeper could do as Sucic's superb first-time shot from distance sailed over him and into the top corner in the 84th minute.

  Atletico moved one place up to third on 17 points, four points behind second-placed Real Madrid and seven off leaders Barcelona. Sociedad are 15th with nine points.

  Data Debrief: Quick off the mark

  To salvage a point against Real Madrid last weekend, Atletico left it late, not scoring until the 95th minute to claim a point.

  This time out, however, Alvarez scored the club's fifth-fastest goal in LaLiga in the 21st century (51 seconds), and the fastest since February 2018 when Griezmann netted in 38 seconds against Malaga. 

  Instead, it was La Real who left it late, with just their seventh goal of the season. It is their worst scoring record at this stage of a LaLiga campaign since 2006-07 (five), the campaign of their last relegation to the second division. 

• Fiorentina 2-1 Milan: Gudmundsson seals win after De Gea penalty heroics

  David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan. 

  In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca's Serie A winning run.

  The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean's tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.

  Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot. 

  Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another golden opportunity from 12 yards, as De Gea got down well to keep out Tammy Abraham this time. 

  On the hour mark, an in-form Christian Pulisic finally pulled the visitors level with a perfect volley, but the drama was far from over as Gudmundsson drilled his low shot past Maignan to put Fiorentina back in front in the 73rd minute.

  Emotions ran high in the final moments as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off, while Hernandez also received his marching orders for arguing with the referee after the final whistle had gone.

  Data Debrief: De Gea's penalty redemption

  For all the plaudits De Gea received while at Manchester United, one blip on his record was his struggles against penalties.

  However, with his impressive showing against Milan, he became the first goalkeeper to make two penalty saves in a single Serie A match since Federico Marchetti in May 2016.

  Since his debut in the top five European leagues (2009-10), the Spaniard has saved 10 of his 52 penalties in the league, including each of the last three, having also saved one against Fulham in May 2023.