Manchester United ran out 3-2 winners against Aston Villa.
Erik ten Hag gifted Manchester United fans a late Christmas present with what was a quite sensational second-half comeback against Unai Emery’s Villans.
Two goals from Alejandro Garnacho and, finally, a Premier League goal for Rasmus Hojlund were enough to cancel out John McGinn’s and Leander Dendoncker’s first-half strikes.
Despite conceding twice, United were pretty astute defensively. One man has shown again he is still more than capable of playing at Old Trafford.
Jonny Evans the unsung hero again
Take a bow, Jonny Evans.
United have had an absolute crisis when it comes to centre-halfs this season. Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire are all still out – which has led to Ten Hag drafting the likes of Willy Kambwala into the first-team squad.
Raphael Varane was back for this one, who made a big difference, but it was the 35-year-old Northern Irishman who deserves the credit defensively.
His undoubted moment of the match was his block from John McGinn’s shot in the 73rd minute at 2-2. This was as good as a goal at the other end and was a huge contributor to the United win. It was a game-saving moment.
He also bossed it throughout. Just look at those stats:
90 minutes played
1 clearance
3 blocked shots
4 interceptions
0 tackles
1 dribbled past
1 clearance off the line
4 times possession lost
3/3 aerial duels won
Class. But he’s done it before.
Jonny Evans has read this script before…
A post went viral on X after the game, which showed Evans has been in this situation before for Manchester United. It read:
‘Rasmus Hojlund and Federico Macheda both scored their first Premier League goals as the winner in a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa for a Man Utd team including Jonny Evans.’
Like clockwork. Evans saw Italian striker Macheda score that wondergoal all those years ago give United a 3-2 comeback victory against Villa, and has now seen Hojlund do the same.
Patrice Evra was on the pitch with Evans back in 2009, and sent a message to him on social media earlier today.
Evans also played in a 3-2 comeback win for the Red Devils on Boxing Day in 2013 against Hull City. Manchester United just don’t quit.
Thank god Ten Hag brought Evans back to Old Trafford. He’s becoming a key part of the United first-team squad.
