History-maker Friedel beaten but not disgraced in goalkeeping's battle of the golden oldies
It was a tale of two keepers at Old Trafford - Edwin van der Sar, who clearly doesn't feel life begins at 40, and Brad Friedel, who despite being just seven months younger thanthe Dutchman, believes it does.
Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa: Rooney bags a brace to extend unbeaten run
Friedel became the oldest player to play for Villa when he lined up at Old Trafford aged 39 years and 259 days to make his 253rd consecutive Premier League appearance.
Despite being old enough to be the dad of Villa kids Marc Albrighton and Ciaran Clark, the American, unlike Van der Sar, does not plan to hang up his boots this summer.
He still feels he has something left in the tank and doesn't have the same miles on the clock as Van der Sar, who has been playing regularly for the best part of 20 years.
Ironically, Friedel has his Villa boss Gerard Houllier to thank for contributing to his longevity, as the Frenchman never gave him a decent run at Liverpool when they were together at Anfield in the late 1990s.
Houllier eventually sold him to Blackburn, believing that Sander Westerveld was a better bet between the sticks, and it was only at Ewood Park in his late 20s that the American's Premier League career properly began.
Friedel made up for those lost years by establishing himself as one of the most consistent and reliable keepers around and few can better his track record over the last 10 years.
For all this, Van der Sar still managed to get one up on him in their battle of the golden oldies when his long goal-kick provided the assist for Wayne Rooney to score inside the first minute.
Friedel could do little to stop Rooney's powerful, dipping shot, but proved age has not dulled his agility as he got down well to his right to save from Nani and later denied fellow OAP Ryan Giggs.
Grand-Brad frustrated Nani again later, and at times he was almost keeping United at bay singlehanded.
Although he was beaten again by Rooney and a third time by Nemanja Vidic, he proved there is still plenty of life left in the old dog on the night he wrote his name into Villa's record books.
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