Diogo Dalot has picked his moments for assists this season. The first teed up Alejandro Garnacho for the goal of the season and the second invited Scott McTominay to resume his matchwinner mode.
Dalot's centre for McTominay was billed as a "David Beckham cross" by Paul Merson in the Villa Park studio. Dalot has tallied a modest nine assists for United and Sunday's was his finest.
"I think I have the ability to do it," Dalot said in the mixed zone. "I still think I can get even more, so hopefully in the future."
The United website queried whether Dalot is in the form of his life. He isn't. That was in his first months under Erik ten Hag when he started all but one match (missed through suspension) and sustained that momentum at the World Cup. Dalot ousted Joao Cancelo from the Portugal team in Qatar.
Dalot's whipped cross against Aston Villa possibly closes the chapter on the five-year right-back battle at Manchester United. Dalot is nearing the performance level of the first third of last season whereas Aaron Wan-Bissaka has gone missing again.
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When Dalot was firmly cemented at right-back last term, Wan-Bissaka was absent for 10 successive Premier League matches. Now he has a problem with his leg.
He is unlikely to be given a leg up. Wan-Bissaka, who withdrew from United's training session on Thursday, is out of contract next year. Dalot signed a new contract last year. Wan-Bissaka is sidelined and Dalot is starting.
United have room for improvement at right-back and Wan-Bissaka is the obvious makeweight. United were prepared to sell him in Ten Hag's first summer.
Jose Mourinho bought Dalot for £19million in 2018 and a year later United agreed a £50m fee with Crystal Palace for Wan-Bissaka. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer peculiarly favoured British recruits, a strategy that was abandoned as early as his second transfer window.
Wan-Bissaka played 46 times for Palace before he became an automatic pick at United, where he drew acclaim for his sliding tackles and, in particular, his one-sided duels with the Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling.
Dalot had such an injury-ravaged season in 2019-20 he played only 11 times but the nadir came when he was fit. With left-backs Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams both injured, Dalot was expected to start away to Palace on account of his versatility. Instead, Solskjaer resurrected Timothy Fosu-Mensah for his first United appearance in over three years. Dalot only got a look-in when Solskjaer picked a heavily-rotated team to face Norwich in the FA Cup quarter-final.
With Wan-Bissaka a certain starter, Dalot secured a season-long loan to AC Milan in October 2020. Wan-Bissaka started in all 15 of United's Champions League and Europa League games and in 34 of their 38 Premier League matches (Solskjaer rested regulars for two of those games to prioritise the Europa League) that season.
Yet Wan-Bissaka had not improved on an impressive first season. Teams started to target his doziness at the far post and two goals and six assists were flattering numbers. United also proved to be one of the most misleading teams in the fake football era of crowdless stadia.
In summer 2021, United wanted Kieran Trippier and Bury-born Trippier wanted United, but Atletico Madrid priced him out of a homecoming. Dalot had spent a steady and, crucially, injury-free season at Milan that ended with an 11th-hour call-up to the Portugal squad for the European Championship. Dalot made his debut against France in the group stage and started in the round-of-16 defeat to Belgium.
With Dalot's stock rising, United fielded enquiries. Milan were interested in re-signing him while Borussia Dortmund touched base. Any move was blocked when United failed to make headway with Trippier.
Wan-Bissaka was still Solskjaer's man. Dalot's only starts under the Norwegian in 2021-22 were in the League Cup third round defeat to West Ham and the fortuitous Champions League group stage win against Villarreal when he was run ragged by Arnaut Danjuma.
Solskjaer quipped to a United staff member afterwards, "It's a shame Diogo can't f-----g defend." Dalot creditably fronted up for a virtual mixed zone chat.
With United still keeping tabs on Trippier on the assumption his valuation would decrease in the 2022 January window, Roma - now coached by Mourinho - expressed interest in Dalot.
Only United had started to spiral, shipping four goals at Leicester, five to Liverpool and another four at Watford within five weeks. Solskjaer apologetically raised his hand to the away end at Vicarage Road. It also signalled his goodbye and he filmed a tearful exit interview the next day.
Wan-Bissaka was in the midst of a personal downward spiral but caretaker manager Michael Carrick favoured continuity in the back four. The turning point came in Carrick's second match in the manager's seat when Wan-Bissaka suffered a hand injury in the draw at Chelsea.
Dalot was recalled against Arsenal four days later for what was his first Premier League start in 788 days. United won with interim manager Ralf Rangnick watching in the stands.
For the first time, Dalot was the favoured pick at right-back over Wan-Bissaka, who started in only one of Rangnick's first 13 matches in the dugout. Dalot started in 22 of United's 29 games under Rangnick, who favoured more intense and front-footed characters.
For Dalot, the season was progressive in that his playing time had soared. He played in 30 games having appeared in 34 in his previous full seasons with United. He was also a fixture in the Portugal squad. Wan-Bissaka remains the most expensive Englishman who has never played for England.
United received more enquiries about Dalot but informed interested parties the right-back they wanted to cash in on was Wan-Bissaka in the summer of 2022. Ten Hag replaced Rangnick and brought with him Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro, instrumental to the Latino rebranding of the United defence. Dalot tallied with the grinta - grit or determination - of Martinez, Casemiro and one-time Madridista Raphael Varane.
Such was United's weak position in the transfer market there were no takers for Wan-Bissaka. With the summer transfer window open for only a few more days, United briefed Wan-Bissaka would be staying.
Wan-Bissaka had four minutes of playing time under Ten Hag before the World Cup interrupted the club calendar in November. Dalot sustained a hamstring injury in Portugal's quarter-final defeat to Morocco and Wan-Bissaka marked his return for United with a rare assist against Burnley in the League Cup fourth round.
For the next six months, Wan-Bissaka had the momentum. Dalot suffered a recurrence of his hamstring strain in the League Cup quarter-final against Charlton Athletic and he was hooked at half-time in the League Cup final after Allan Saint-Maximin rode roughshod over him. Wan-Bissaka came on and Saint-Maximin hit a force field.
Wan-Bissaka performed creditably in the second half of last season and he was United's only acceptable performer when they went down with a fight to Manchester City in the FA Cup final. Dalot was an unused substitute and began this season on the bench.
During pre-season in the United States, Ten Hag had still not settled on his right-back for the season opener against Wolves. Wan-Bissaka lined up in the first two matches against Arsenal and Real Madrid but Dalot returned with a goal against Dortmund in Las Vegas.
United returned home and back at Old Trafford, Dalot's careless pass inadvertently assisted Florian Sotoca's audacious lob over Andre Onana. The next day, Wan-Bissaka contributed to a last-minute equaliser for Facundo Pellistri in Dublin.
Wan-Bissaka started this season as he ended last season - as United's best player. That was all too brief as he succumbed to a hamstring injury against Brighton in September.
Dalot has been injury-free all season. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, he has extraordinarily missed only eight out of a possible 192 games through injury.
Both full-backs have started in the same XI nine times this season amid Tyrell Malacia's interminable absence with a knee problem and Luke Shaw's brittleness. Each has shown admirable resilience at stages of their United career. Wan-Bissaka has overcome homesickness and plans to jettison him.
But Dalot has always had the edge under Ten Hag. 74 of his 139 appearances for United have come under the Dutchman whereas Wan-Bissaka has played 51 times for the incumbent United manager.
Wan-Bissaka has always been the more secure defender and Dalot the more accomplished attacker. Wilfried Zaha has tormented Dalot for Palace and Galatasaray yet was denied a one-on-one with David de Gea by Wan-Bissaka last season.
"I had a little look back and I thought, 'Oh my God, it's Aaron,'" Zaha lamented. "He's the only one who can do the scoop tackle." James Maddison was so in awe of Wan-Bissaka's marshalling of Brighton livewire Kaoru Mitoma during last season's FA Cup semi-final he tweeted, "AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending. Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him."
Yet right-backs are judged on their attacking output and Wan-Bissaka is as shy at attacking as he is at speaking. Wan-Bissaka had to "pick up on the coaching", in Ten Hag's words last January.
Dalot executed a couple of sliding interventions reminiscent of Wan-Bissaka in the first half at Villa Park on Sunday. He then bent it like Beckham in the second half.
