Manchester United v Aston Villa ratings: Garnacho 8, Hojlund 7; Martinez 6, McGinn 6

Erik ten Hag's team stage stunning comeback to win 3-2 at Old Trafford

Andre Onana 6/10

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: Onana. Didn’t come out for Villa’s opening goal and picked the goal out for the second time after 27 minutes. Soft goals. Played long balls over the top and assisted the attack. Top save on 62. Fine ball to Garnacho on 63. APShow less

Diogo Dalot 7/10

Played out of position and gave the ball to Bailey to set up a Villa attack. Poor in the first half, much better in the second as he was helpful in attack. Getty Images

Raphael Varane 7/10

Questionable in Villa’s goal, but then another top performances alongside Evans. Tried to rally fans at the end on an intoxicating evening at Old Trafford. Getty Images

Jonny Evans 8/10

Cleaned up a Dalot error early on. Cleared a ball off the line on 71 from McGinn when it was 2-2. Impeccable timing and experience showed. Thirty five years old and playing like prime time Baresi. ReutersShow less

Aaron Wan-Bissaka 6/10

Needed more support in the first half, but while limited in attack, defensively sound. Getty Images

Kobbie Mainoo 7/10

Sat deeper than Eriksen and Fernandes. Blocked off and couldn’t get near the ball for Villa’s opener. More minutes, more confidence, more maturity shown and, like the rest, he improved in the second. APShow less

Christian Eriksen 7/10

Big game. Looked fit, created, controlled and it’s better that he’s back from injury. Had United’s first shot on target on 10. AP

Marcus Rashford 7/10

Better. Shot on target early then, then well wide on 44. Set up Garnacho on 49 when he might have been better going it alone. Then did it for real. Brought down by Martinez as he chased a ball down. Getty ImagesShow less

Bruno Fernandes 7/10

Complained a lot, because it hurts how bad this United team were in the first half. Anticipated to win the ball in the buildup for United’s first and involved in the equaliser. Booked for moaning. Far better and more advanced in the second half. PAShow less

Alejandro Garnacho 8/10

Did well in a 14th minute break, but let players run in behind him and didn’t track back. Hit side netting on 45, but offside. Put the ball in the net on 48 – a decent finish, but again offside. Finally got his reward with a neat finish for 1-2. Shot across goal on 63, then equalised on 70. What a moment. Man of the match. APShow less

Manchester United v Aston Villa - Premier League - Old Trafford

Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture date: Tuesday December 26, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Man Utd. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.Show less

Antony 6/10

SUBS: (Rashford 79) Came on and United scored the winner soon after. Getty Images

Scott McTominay 6/10

(Mainoo 81) Came on at 2-2. No dramatic winners here from him, that was left to his teammate. AFP

Willy Kambwala 6/10

(Hojlund 88) Into a three-man defence. Covered from a Varane mistake to clear the ball. Getty Images

Dan Gore N/A

(Eriksen 94) On for an injection of Mancunian energy and a Premier League debut. Hannibal Mejbri (Garnacho 94) - N/A. Getty Images

Emiliano Martinez 6/10

ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Martinez. Forced into a routine save by Eriksen in the tenth minute. Made two good saves to deny Rashford in the first half. PA

Ezri Konsa 5/10

Endured a difficult outing against the pace and trickiness of Rashford. Made a vital interception to stop Mainoo from playing Rashford through on goal. AFP

Lucas Digne 6/10

Enjoyed a good defensive performance in the first half but had to leave the field early in the second due to injury. EPA

Clement Lenglet 6/10

Played a terrible pass straight into the path of Rashford and almost gifted the home side a goal. Assisted Dendoncker’s goal with a header back across the face of goal. Did well to stop Garnacho’s run into the visitors penalty area. EPAShow less

Diego Carlos 4/10

Excellent recovery challenge to stop Dalot’s cutback into the danger area. His awful attempt at playing out from the back was pounced upon by the home side and led to Garnacho’s first goal. Unlucky to deflect Garnacho’s shot past Martinez for the home side’s second goal. Getty ImagesShow less

Leander Dendoncker 7/10

Hardworking performance from the Belgian at the base of the visitors' midfield. Doubled the visitors' lead with an improvised flick from close range. Getty Images

Douglas Luiz 6/10

Enjoyed an impressive first half, during which he helped build attacks from the back. Failed to make the same impact in the second and was left chasing shadows. Getty Images

Jacob Ramsey 5/10

Found it tough going forward against the defensively astute Wan-Bissaka. Reduced to mostly defensive contributions in the second half. Getty Images

Leon Bailey 6/10

Looked lively at the beginning of the game and caused Dalot problems. Called Onana into action with a deft touch on the hour mark. AP

John McGinn 6/10

Opened the scoring with an inswinging freekick that left Onana bamboozled. Denied a goal by a goalline clearance from Evans in the second half. Unlucky to see the ball come off him and into the path of Hojlund for the Red Devils’ third goal. Getty ImagesShow less

Ollie Watkins 4/10

An ineffective outing for Watkins up front for Aston Villa. He failed to test Onana and was hardly involved in build-up play. Getty Images

Alex Moreno 4/10

SUBS: (Digne, 49) Muscled off the ball too easily by Garnacho to give the home side a very good chance in the 62nd minute. Caught out of position for the home side’s equaliser. AFP

Moussa Diaby N/A

(Jacob Ramsey, 77) Made a mess of a cross few minutes after coming on. Getty Images

Nicolo Zaniolo N/A

(Bailey, 77) Tried to make things happen after coming on, but he was well marshalled by the home side’s backline. Tim Iroegbunam (Dendoncker, 86) - N/A. Jhon Duran (McGinn, 86) - N/A. AFP

Manchester United showed great fighting spirit as Rasmus Hojlund capped a thrilling fightback from two goals down to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory against Aston Villa on Tuesday.

Erik ten Hag's side were in danger of another damaging defeat when John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker scored to put Villa in control by half-time at Old Trafford.

United were booed off at the interval but were a changed team after the break with Alejandro Garnacho scoring his team's first goal in seven hours and twenty minutes.

Garnacho struck again to equalise before Hojlund finally ended his goal drought with eight minutes left.

It was Hojlund's first league goal for United in his 15th appearance and his sixth in all competitions since his August move from Atalanta.

The result was a big relief for United who ended a four-match winless run in all competitions and rose to sixth in the Premier League.

"I said it before the game, I said it during halftime, keep believing and we will win this game," said United manager Erik ten Hag.

The timing of the result was significant as well, as it came two days after British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe struck a deal to take a minority stake at Manchester United.

Dave Brailsford, Ineos's director of sport who has been named a director of United since the Ratcliffe deal was done, sat in the director's box for Tuesday's much-needed victory.

"We are looking forward, I think it's positive for the club that they are in the stepping in," Ten Hag told reporters. "They have a lot of experience in sport on the highest level, F1, the cycling team (Ineos Grenadiers), other football clubs, so it can only help and support us to get our targets.

"So we are looking forward. They want to work with us and we want to work with them."

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