by What a time for Rasmus Højlund to break his 14-game Premier League streak: after 82 minutes, his volley to the left slotted in from Emiliano Martínez’s right-hand post to delight the young No. 9. He relieved for Erik ten Hags too and it ushered in the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era of part-ownership of Manchester United in the same way that came before: breathless and chaotic.
Related: Manchester United v Aston Villa: Premier League – live
Højlund’s intervention came after Alejandro Garnacho equalized after 71 minutes, also through the left wing. Earlier, Aston Villa’s second strike had been greeted with applause and these, along with the stony sight of Sir Dave Brailsford watching United’s opening 45 minute debacle, threatened the very sad story of a fifth defeat in December to tell.
But Ten Hag and his men escaped, before the manager took the troubled side to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. And with a place on the board, Brailsford’s report to Ratcliffe on this performance will certainly tell the new 25% shareholder how the Ten Hag players are still fighting for him, which could be key to his job security.
Zero goals in their previous four games (in all competitions) and one point from their previous three league games was the damning record Ten Hag’s men were hoping to end. To that end, the most notable of the four changes he made in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to West Ham was the return of Christian Eriksen: a lack of creativity was a key factor in United’s poor run, so his art on back for the first time. the time since Luton’s 1-0 win on November 11 could be due to an improvement in fortunes.
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In the opening period it was not, as United went into near-farce territory, lacking poise and basic footballing qualities. Diogo Dalot was an example as he clawed at a cross-field pass straight to Villa as United made a move from the back. That allowed Leon Bailey to ping a ball into the area and Bruno Fernandes had to head clear. A lack of comfort was also evident when Marcus Rashford was intercepted near halfway and the ball was too hard for Højlund.
After Saturday’s defeat Ten Hag repeated his mantra “stick to the plan”. It is still difficult to identify what this might mean. Any blueprint seemed to depend on a counter-attack, as when Garnacho broke and squared for Eriksen who turned the ball forward for Rashford but the Dane’s radar was erratic and the sequence fizzled out.
Unai Emery is a coach whose aim is to mimic how every move should be played. When Dalot – again – conceded possession, Bailey – again – could have punished the left back but a poor pass allowed Jonny Evans to thwart the winger and Emery managed to hit a picture of disgust.
Now, however, he turned into one happy man as McGinn scored, André Onana the culprit again. From the right, the Villa captain headed in a free-kick when Bailey ran back from close range for the United No.
Then, more disaster – plus embarrassment – for Ten Hag and his not-so-happy band. This time McGinn dropped a corner from the right forward to the unmarked leader Clément Lenglet at the far post. Back the ball went to Leander Dendoncker who made his heel hook 2-0.
This prompted cheers from the home community who were facing the shower. United’s response was to rush up the pitch and show how short they were as, by half-time, 426 minutes had passed since Scott McTominay had last scored for them – against Chelsea.
Rashford drilled into the hands of Emiliano Martínez. Garnacho hit the ball past Højlund in front of the goal. Dalot slipped in on the left and couldn’t save himself. The unconscious ability to be outside of these things was being lost – Fernandes and Garnacho were guilty of this more than once.
Both played a big part in United’s strike with Martínez and Fernandes feeding Rashford who fed Garnacho but, on foot, the VAR ruled it was offside. This brought joy to the massive Villa support and despair to Ten Hag who greeted the decision with an unexpected shock.
United were in desperation mode. Rashford’s next move was to soccer in for Fernandes’ curling dink. Martínez rushed out to put away a punt, bringing the No 10 down with him. Ten Hag went ballistic on the touch but throwing in was the right call.
But at last the drought was broken. Fernandes stole the ball and nodded to Rashford who passed it to Garnacho to slide in. Yes, the answer was – thanks to Garnacho and Højlund.
