What a time for Rasmus Højlund to break a 14-match Premier League duck: on 82 minutes, his left-foot volley pinballed in off Emiliano Martínez’s right-hand post to bring sheer delight to the young No 9. It brought relief for Erik ten Hag too and began the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-era of partial ownership of Manchester United in precisely the same fashion that preceded it: breathless and chaotic.
Højlund’s intervention came after Alejandro Garnacho had equalised on 71 minutes, via, too, his left boot. Before this, boos had greeted Aston Villa’s second strike and these, plus the sight of a stony-faced Sir Dave Brailsford watching United’s opening 45-minute debacle, threatened to tell the very sorry tale of a fifth defeat of December.
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