A brace from Danny Ings helped Aston Villa end their away day blues in the Premier League at the eighth time of asking with a 2-1 victory at Brighton.
Villa’s dismal record on the road this season contributed to Steven Gerrard’s sacking last month but successor Unai Emery was able to celebrate three points on the south coast after a fine comeback.
Alexis Mac Allister fired Brighton into an early lead but the away side regrouped and claimed the spoils with Ings netting a first-half penalty before his deflected strike early in the second half downed Roberto De Zerbi’s men, who were denied a late penalty by VAR.
This was the penultimate Premier League fixture before the World Cup and, while there were some absentees, seven Qatar-bound players started.
Mac Allister was one of them and celebrated his Argentina call-up with a goal after 49 seconds against his compatriot Emi Martinez. It was the fastest goal Brighton had ever scored in the Premier League.
Villa goalkeeper Martinez was partly culpable after playing a short pass into Douglas Luiz, but the Brazilian was brushed aside too easily by Mac Allister, who rifled home his fifth goal of the season.
A frantic opening period continued with Adam Lallana being forced off with injury before Jacob Ramsey went down for the visitors but he was able to continue.
Levi Colwill had already denied Ings with a fine sliding tackle to make an impressive start to his full debut in the Premier League.
Villa responded well to going behind and claimed a deserved leveller in the 20th minute.
Emi Buendia found space and produced a perfectly weighted pass for John McGinn to race on to with Lewis Dunk bringing down the Scotland captain inside the area.
It gave Ings the chance to score from 12-yards, which he duly accepted but only after Robert Sanchez got a hand to his penalty kick.
Poland international Matty Cash and Mac Allister had to shake off niggles not long afterwards, before Pascal Gross almost caught out Villa goalkeeper Martinez with a wicked inswinging delivery from a corner.
Down at the other end, Dunk made a timely sliding block to thwart Ramsey after Ings’ flick to ensure it remained 1-1 at half-time.
Leandro Trossard found the net five minutes into the second period but his long-range screamer did not count after referee Chris Kavanagh had already blown his whistle for a foul on Cash.
Cash almost created Villa’s second when he got in behind Pervis Estupinan and crossed for Buendia, but the Argentinian’s diving header hit the post.
Emery’s side stayed alert and did take the lead seconds later in the 54th minute.
Luiz was able to atone for his mistake for Brighton’s opener after he won possession from Mac Allister outside the hosts’ penalty area and Ings dribbled past a rash Dunk tackle before his effort beat Sanchez after a deflection off Colwill.
De Zerbi had seen enough and brought off early substitute Julio Enciso in a double change that saw Joel Veltman and Deniz Undav introduced.
It improved the Seagulls, who wanted a penalty when Lucas Digne and Solly March came together with the Villa defender clearly catching the home winger but despite a VAR check by Jarred Gillett, no spot-kick was given.
This only added to the frustration of De Zerbi, who was booked for repeatedly remonstrating about Villa’s time-wasting and despite eight minutes of stoppage time, no leveller could be found with Emery celebrating another win.
Manchester United 4 Aston Villa 2 - player ratings
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MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: Martin Dubravka - 6. Debut for the goalkeeper, 33, who signed from Newcastle. Conceded two but he couldn’t be held responsible for either. Getty Images -
Diogo Dalot – 5. Hit a beautiful cross field pass to Rashford to start a move where he almost finished it with a header. Done by McGinn in a yellow card tackle. His ball to Fernandes led to United’s rapid equaliser. Own goal after 61 gave Villa the lead. AP Photo -
Harry Maguire – 6. A start after his England World Cup call up, he headed a cross over when he should have pulled the ball in. Booked and lucky not to be booked again late on. AFP -
Victor Lindelof – 6. Not close enough to Ollie Watkins or Leon Bailey as Villa scored another two – five past United in five days with him as centre-back. AFP -
Tyrell Malacia – 6. Brought former United player Ashley Young down after 11 minutes and ran beyond Rashford to cross towards Dalot on 23. More touches – 96 – than any player on the pitch. Getty Images -
Scott McTominay – 7. Headed a testing Luiz corner away from his goal 30 minutes in. Curled a shot just off target on 89 in a strong finish to the game, one he topped off with a 90th minute goal. AP Photo -
Fred – 5. Not one of his best performances in a match which was dire and dull in the first half, bright and goal packed in the second. AP Photo -
Bruno Fernandes – 9. Fed Martial to equalise with a fine ball which kept the move onside. Went for goal after 69 but couldn’t get his foot around the ball. Did swivel to shoot on target on 75 and off target a minute later. His efforts were finally rewarded with a 78th minute winner. Six in seven against Villa. Booked. Again. Getty Images -
Donny Van de Beek – 4. Anonymous in such an important position. Again. Touched the ball 21 times in an hour. His replacement Eriksen touched it 22 times in 31 minutes. AP Photo -
Marcus Rashford – 8. Got the second equaliser, staying on his feet twice to roll the ball into the net for his eighth goal of the season. Four shots on target. With the England call up, a positive day for him. AP Photo -
Anthony Martial – 6. Equalised 19 seconds after the restart following Villa’s opener. A very dull first half, but positive for him to be starting – and scoring - again. AP Photo -
SUBS: Alejandro Garnacho – 8. On for Martial after 61. Runs at players. Doesn’t always have the power or pace to get past them, but he’s exciting. AP Photo -
Anthony Elanga – 6. On for Van de Beek 61. Better than the man he replaced, but still peripheral. Getty Images -
Christian Eriksen – 7. On for Fred after 61. Far better than Van de Beek, making passes that count. Perfect first time pass to McTominay, who shot on 89. Getty Images -
Casemiro – N/A. On for Rashford after 82 to slow things down and hold the lead. PA -
Lisandro Martinez – N/A. On for Lindelof after 86. Straight into the mix and a fine ball to Garnacho which led to McTominay’s goal. Getty Images -
Robin Olsen - 4, Had an indecisive start, sliding in to toe poke the ball away from Fernandes to concede a corner. Made strong saves to deny Fernandes and Maguire but then completely misjudged a falling ball under no pressure and soon after conceded possession as Fernandes put United ahead. Getty Images -
Ashley Young - 6, Made a good recovery to cut out Malacia’s cross attempt and delivered the ball for Bailey to head across for Villa’s second. His lack of pace let him down for United’s second, although he was unlucky to see the ball fall to Rashford from his tackle. Booked for a cynical foul on Rashford. Getty Images -
Ezri Konsa - 5, Had some poor moments in possession as he was pickpocketed trying to run out with the ball, then got away with a poor touch on the edge of his own box. Came up with some good defensive interventions. AFP -
Calum Chambers - 5, Got away with an unconvincing header back to Olsen and a shocking pass that went straight to Rashford. Looked vulnerable to balls over the top and was unable to catch Martial as the Frenchman scored the equaliser. Reuters -
Ludwig Augustinsson - 5, Made an early burst forward but was seen off by Fernandes and played very safe in possession after that, while any cross attempts lacked quality. Completely lost Fernandes for the equaliser. AFP -
Jacob Ramsey - 6, Put in a good defensive shift but struggled to keep possession at times in the first half. Did well to burst forward and slip Watkins through for the opening goal. Getty Images -
Douglas Luiz - 6, Delivered a corner that forced McTominay to awkwardly head off the line but was guilty of getting too much on his balls through on various occasions. Booked for a coming together with Fernandes. AFP -
Boubacar Kamara - 6, Had a lapse of concentration on a few occasions, with one of those leaving Malacia free to run into the box. However, he also took up some good defensive positions, such as when he cut out Fernandes’ attempted pass in the box. Reuters -
John McGinn - 6, Worked hard and put in a good early tackle on Fred but wasn’t able to fully show his quality on the ball. Got involved in a nice passage of play with Ramsey. Reuters -
Danny Ings - 5, Struggled to have much of an attacking impact at all, partly due to a lack of service, but made a good defensive header to stop Dalot getting a clear attempt on goal. Getty Images -
Ollie Watkins - 7, Having spent the first half feeding off scraps, he raced through to open the scoring with a composed finish inside the first three minutes of the second period. Worked some space for himself on a later occasion but fired wide. Failed to take advantage after being played through by Bailey. AFP -
SUB Emi Buendia (Ings, 59’) - 5, Did well to hold off a defender and tee up Bailey for a shot but failed to offer much else throughout his time on the pitch. PA -
SUB Leon Bailey (Ramsey, 59’) - 7, Announced himself quickly with the header that Dalot knocked into his own net. Hit a tame shot that was easily saved by Dubravka but then did brilliantly to play Watkins through. Booked for pushing Martinez. AFP -
SUB Tyrone Mings (Konsa, 59’) - 4, Played Rashford onside for the chance that he came agonisingly close to taking and slipped when the forward scored United’s second equaliser of the night. Unlucky that his attempted block sent Fernandes’ shot into the top corner but he did nowhere near enough to stop McTominay scoring the final goal. Reuters -
SUB Matty Cash (Young, 74’) – N/R, Was unable to stop Garnacho enjoying his evening, as was epitomised when he stood off the teenager when he got the assist for the final goal. AFP -
SUB Lucas Digne (Augustinsson, 80’) – N/R, Did very little to trouble Dalot when he got a cross in for Eriksen and couldn’t do much going forward. Getty Images
