Manchester United must step up search for centre half following draw with 10-man Aston Villa

Louis van Gaal will surely have departed Villa Park on Saturday with the words “new centre half” scrawled in big marker pen on the first page of his leather notebook.

Van Gaal has been assured of substantial funds for January and this reality check was further evidence that Manchester United desperately need a dominant defender.

Despite that £150 million trolley-dash during the summer it remains a damning indictment of United that their most glaring weakness was not properly addressed and next month represents a chance to put it right.

Jonny Evans and Phil Jones were bullied all afternoon by Christian Benteke as United’s hopes of truly challenging Chelsea and Manchester City this season withered and died in the Birmingham cold.

Seven games unbeaten is hardly a crisis but there are clearly other issues for Van Gaal to contend with, such as Juan Mata’s propensity to drift out of games into which he has never really drifted.

Marouane Fellaini’s absence on Saturday also harmed United – a statement which would have been unthinkable last season – while Michael Carrick’s shift into defence deprives the midfield of a calming presence. Not even the bewildering dismissal of Gabriel Agbonlahor for alleged “excessive force”, a late tackle on Ashley Young 25 minutes from time, could lift United and that gift of pinching points in ‘Fergie Time’ has been long forgotten.

However, it is the lack of authority and strength in defence that remains a niggling problem and one that Van Gaal cannot afford to ignore if the Dutchman is to progress with his rebuilding job.

Benteke easily pushed Evans aside for the excellent ­opening goal, with the outstanding David de Gea powerless to prevent the Belgian forward’s shot finding the corner.

It could have been worse for United if De Gea had not produced a wonderful save to deny Benteke early in the second half. But Radamel Falcao’s ­impressive header restored parity, in the Colombian’s fourth league start, though it was Villa who could have stolen three points in the final minutes.

Evans said: “We should have gone on to win, after they’d gone down to 10 and we had the goal early in the second half, but it is a busy period and we have to keep that run of not losing going. It’s three games in five days but we have the experience from the Champions League and Christmases before. It tests the squad, but everyone gets playing time and it’s great to be involved.”

Paul Lambert, the Aston Villa manager, is certain to appeal against the straight red card awarded to Agbonlahor on what was an encouraging evening for the home team. When Villa can perform like this, in front of more than 41,000 people, neutral observers would find it difficult to believe that they are always down among the dead men fighting relegation.

Benteke, Fabian Delph, Jores Okore and Brad Guzan, in particular, were excellent and ­Lambert has to build on this. There have been too many false dawns and upcoming games against Swansea City, Sunderland and Crystal Palace represent a chance to move further away from danger.

When it was put to Lambert that Van Gaal insisted United should have won, the Villa manager said: “If you spend that kind of money on this club, you’ve got to win more games than not to challenge for the title.

“They’ll still be in with a shout. If they don’t win it they’ll certainly have a massive bearing on where it’s going to go. They’re a top side.”

Agbonlahor’s red card will surely be rescinded in the next few days and the referee Lee Mason should expect a carpeting from his boss Mike Riley for making such a poor decision.

Guzan, the Villa goalkeeper, said: “We hope it’s overturned. Looking at the replay in the dressing room, I definitely don’t think it was a red card.

“You just hope that the people that make those decisions will have a look at it and say ‘Yeah, that’s probably not a red card’ but it’s out of our hands at the moment. You have to stick together and we did that for 25 ­minutes, to be down a man against a top side.

“It showed a lot of character and determination, it’s a credit to the guys in front of me.”