Hojlund scores first league goal to lift Man United to 3-2 win over Villa

MANCHESTER, England :Rasmus Hojlund's first Premier League goal secured a 3-2 win for Manchester United over Aston Villa after Alejandro Garnacho had scored a brace to claw their way back from two goals down in a breathless encounter on Tuesday.

"Keep believing. I think our fans they deserved it. They are always behind us and we've had so many setbacks," United manager Erik ten Hag told the BBC. "So I'm really pleased from the performance of this team. What kind of team can handle and deal with the amount of setbacks we have had?"

United, who had fans booing them off the Old Trafford pitch at halftime, climbed to sixth in the standings on 31 points, while Villa, who lost for the first time in 11 games in all competitions, are third with 39, missing a chance to move even on points with league-leaders Liverpool.

"The atmosphere pushed them. They have very good players," Villa manager Unai Emery said.

After 1,027 minutes, Hojlund finally ended his league goal drought in the 82nd when a United corner bounced off John McGinn's knee and fell to the Dane. The 20-year-old swiped it in off the post and a few minutes later left the game to a standing ovation.

"It has been a while (waiting), but yes I am very happy. I am the happiest man alive right now," Hojlund told Amazon Prime. "You can see from the celebrations as well. We believed in ourselves until the very end and got the win today."

McGinn scored for Villa in the 21st minute from a long free kick that sailed past several players and into the bottom left corner. Leander Dendoncker doubled their lead five minutes later from close range when an unmarked Clement Lenglet headed a corner kick back across goal.

United appeared headed for their ninth defeat in 19 league games before