Man Utd 3-2 Aston Villa: Player ratings as Hojlund strikes to start Ratcliffe era with win

The Sir Jim Ratcliffe era at Old Trafford got off to the perfect start as Manchester United roared to a 3-2 comeback victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

United were comically poor in defence as they conceded from two set-pieces in the first half, but from that point onwards, the Red Devils were the better team and they put on a show for INEOS representative Sir Dave Brailsford, who was watching on from the stands.

Alejandro Garnacho netted twice after the break, having already seen a goal ruled out for offside, before Rasmus Hojlund netted his long-awaited first league goal late on to seal a dramatic victory.

Villa marginally had the better of the opening stages, although it was Christian Eriksen who had the first real sight of goal ten minutes in as he sent a long-range strike fizzing straight into the gloves of Emiliano Martinez.

22 minutes in, Villa took the lead in bizarre circumstances. McGinn floated in a free kick which bounced through a crowded six-yard box and straight into the back of Andre Onana's net.

The second goal came just moments later. Some shocking defending from a corner allowed Clement Lenglet a free header back across goal and Dendoncker managed to stab the ball beyond Onana to incite a chorus of boos from the home fans.

United made a lively response, with Marcus Rashford stinging Martinez's gloves twice without ever really testing the Villa stopper before the half-time break. Erik ten Hag's side were arguably the stronger side in the first half but, yet again, were paying for some moments of madness at the back.

Three minutes into the second half and United thought they had pulled one back. Garnacho slotted home but a VAR check spotted he had failed to time his run properly, despite having no real