Man United stars Casemiro and Diogo Dalot head out for dinner with their partners to toast Villa win

Manchester United’s Casemiro and Diogo Dalot took time out from their race for a top-four finish on Monday night to grab dinner in Manchester.   

The team-mates spent the evening at Piccolino in Hale – an upscale enclave in Cheshire home to a number of City and United players – with their partners. 

Dalot proposed to Claudia Lopes in March of this year after the couple attended a Chris Brown concert in Manchester,

Casemiro and his wife Anna Mariana have been married since 2014, and have two children, daughter Sara and their son Caio. 

Dalot and Casemiro have been firm friends since the former Real Madrid midfielder’s £70m move to United last summer, with the Brazilian naming Dalot as one of his closest friends in the squad in an interview with the club’s website in November 2022. 

The pair were joined by team-mate Diogo Dalot and his fiancee Claudio Lopes (centre)

The pair have been firm friends since Casemiro made the move to United in summer 2022

Both players would have felt owed some time off amidst a hectic fixture schedule, and in need of a reward after snatching Sunday’s 1-0 victory against Aston Villa. 

The win at Old Trafford not only ensures fourth-place United keep pace with Newcastle, who sit just two points ahead of them in third place, but holds back a rampaging Villa side. 

Before losing on the road, Unai Emery’s men were enjoying a 10-match unbeaten streak that has lifted them up to fifth place, but the Villans were stopped in their tracks by a 39th-minute strike by Bruno Fernandes. 

The Portugal star netted the only goal of the match just before the half-time break but his performance didn’t come without criticism from his team-mates. 

Casemiro was involved in a heated discussion with the No 8 after the final whistle and in images captured by Sky Sports, neither player looks wholly satisfied by the slender win. 

But their argument is yet to have lasting consequences, and may have just been a display of what manager Erik ten Hag called ‘character’ when he spoke to journalists after the match. 

After the final whistle, Casemiro appeared to remonstrate Bruno Fernandes, who scored the side’s only goal to beat Aston Villa 1-0

But regardless of performance Sunday’s home win will prove crucial to United’s top-four hopes

‘We have seen character today, we were determined, passionate and we had to win and played good football,’ the Dutch manager said. 

Ten Hag will hope there is passion to spare in his side, as they continue to compete across two fronts with the season drawing to its dramatic conclusion. 

United have a straightforward run in the Premier League, with their next match against Brighton presenting their greatest threat to a top-four finish. 

But their season will by no means be over on May 28, with the Red Devils due to contest their crosstown rivals Manchester City at Wembley in the FA Cup final.