What a time to break Rasmus Højlund’s 14-game Premier League duck: In the 82nd minute, his left-foot volley stumbled towards Emiliano Martínez’s right-wing post, delighting the youngster at number 9. This was a relief for Erik. Hag began Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s era of part-ownership of Manchester United in exactly the same way as before: breathless and chaotic.
Relating to: Manchester United v Aston Villa: Premier League – live
Højlund’s intervention came after Alejandro Garnacho equalized with the left boot in the 71st minute. Before that, boos had greeted Aston Villa’s second strike and these, plus the sight of a stern-faced Sir Dave Brailsford watching United’s opening 45-minute debacle, threatened to tell the very sorry tale of a fifth defeat in December.
But before the manager left for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Ten Hag and his men escaped. And with a place on the board, Brailsford’s report to Ratcliffe on this show will let the new 25% shareholder know how Ten Hag’s players are still fighting for him, which could be the key to his job security.
Zero goals in the previous four matches (in all competitions) and one point from the previous three league games were the damning record Ten Hag’s men were hoping to stop. To that end, the most notable of his four changes after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against West Ham was the return of Christian Eriksen: a lack of creativity has been a key factor in United’s poor run, so for the first time his art is back. The passage of time since the 1-0 win at Luton on November 11 could herald an improvement in fortunes.
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This was not to be in the opening period as United veered almost into farcical territory, lacking balance and fundamental footballing qualities. Diogo Dalot was an example of playing a midfield pass straight to Villa as United made a move from the back. This allowed Leon Bailey to ping the ball into the area, needing Bruno Fernandes to clear his header. A lack of composure was also evident when Marcus Rashford cut in close to half-time and flicked the ball too hard to Højlund.
After Saturday’s defeat, Ten Hag repeated his “stick to the plan” mantra. It is still difficult to understand what this could be. Any plan appeared to rely on counter-attacks, as Garnacho lunged at Eriksen, who turned the ball to Rashford, and the Dane’s radar went awry and the sequence failed.
Unai Emery is a coach who imitates how every move should be played. When Dalot regained possession, Bailey could once again punish the left-back but poor passing allowed Jonny Evans to deny the winger and Emery was a disgusted picture.
But now he turned into a happy man with McGinn scoring, André Onana was at fault again. Villa’s captain took a free-kick from the right and Bailey passed close to United’s goal number 1 to put him in an offside position: the ball cleared everyone, bounced past the hapless Onana and slotted in. VAR ruled that Bailey had not interfered and the goal stood.
Then comes new disaster—plus embarrassment—for Ten Hag and his less-than-merry band. McGinn curled a corner, this time from the right, onto Clément Lenglet’s conspicuous unmarked header at the far post. The ball went to Leander Dendoncker and he made it 2-0 with his hooked back heel.
This drew jeers from the home congregation, who were shocked at the shower before them. United’s response was to rush onto the field and show how toothless they were in the first half as 426 minutes had passed since Scott McTominay’s last goal against Chelsea.
Rashford fell to Emiliano Martínez. Garnacho stabbed the ball past Højlund in front of goal. Dalot slipped down the left side and couldn’t recover. Added to these misses was the ability to be unknowingly caught offside; Fernandes and Garnacho were guilty of this more than once.
The pair were instrumental in United beating Martínez as Fernandes fed Rashford, who fed Garnacho, but VAR ruled he was offside when the goal was scored. This brought joy to Villa’s mass support and despair to Ten Hag, who greeted the decision with a despairing nod.
United were in desperation mode. Rashford’s next move was to move in for Fernandes’ looping strike. Martínez rushed out and began punting, taking the No. 10 with him. Ten Hag went berserk on the touchline, but the throw-in was the right decision.
But eventually the drought was broken. Fernandes stole the ball and touched it to Rashford, who rolled the ball for Garnacho to slot in. Could United have further engineered what could be seen as a thrilling comeback? The answer was yes; Thanks to Garnacho and Højlund.