Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to rescue a remarkable 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday, but the point was not enough to lift them out of the Premier League relegation zone heading into the international break.
United trailed 4-2 as the game entered added time before substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu struck in the 92nd and 96th minutes to complete a comeback that sent Old Trafford into bedlam, according to DAZN and Sportradar. It was the first time United have won just one of their opening 10 league games since 1972-73, and they sit 18th in the table.
Manager Michael Carrick, under intense pressure after a dreadful start to the season, was given a lifeline by his bench — but the draw papers over cracks that remain obvious to everyone at the club.
Villa strike twice inside four minutes
The game exploded into life immediately. Alysson opened the scoring after just one minute, sweeping home through goalkeeper Senne Lammens’ legs, and Nicolas Jackson doubled Villa’s lead three minutes later after Lammens spilled a blocked effort.
United were shell-shocked, and the home crowd’s anger towards the club’s ownership was audible. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after Boubacar Kamara fouled Matheus Cunha, and Youri Tielemans equalised against his former club a minute before half-time, finishing Noussair Mazraoui’s pull-back with a first-time strike.
At 2-2 at the break, United had fought their way back into a game they had started disastrously. But the second half followed the same chaotic script.
McGinn and Goretzka restore Villa’s lead
Three minutes after the restart, Diogo Dalot tripped Alysson inside the area and John McGinn converted the penalty to put Villa back in front. Five minutes later, Leny Yoro headed a McGinn free-kick against his own crossbar, the ball dropped loose, and Leon Goretzka bundled in his first Villa goal to make it 4-2.
United looked beaten. Mason Mount struck the post with an 89th-minute volley, and the game seemed lost — until the substitutes intervened. Zirkzee, sent on in the 83rd minute, swept home Dorgu’s pass in the second minute of stoppage time, and Dorgu then rose highest to head a Fernandes corner into the net in the sixth minute of added time.
What comes next
The draw keeps United 18th, and Carrick’s future remains uncertain despite the dramatic escape. Villa, who twice led by two goals and still did not win, will be furious at letting the points slip away. Both sides now have two weeks to reflect — United on a start that is their worst in more than half a century, Villa on a game they should have won twice over.
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