Scott McTominay kept Manchester United’s hopes alive for finishing in the top four of the Premier League by scoring the winning goal near the final whistle in their visit to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag’s team desperately needed a victory at Villa Park to narrow the gap in the race for Champions League qualification next season. United opened the scoring with Rasmus Hojlund, but Douglas Luiz equalized in the second half.
The winning goal was scored by McTominay, who came off the bench to head in a pass from Diogo Dalot, four minutes from the end of the game.
United remains in sixth place after their fourth consecutive victory in all competitions, but they are now only five points behind fifth-placed Villa and six behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
“It’s a great win for us. We’ve got closer, and that was the objective. I liked how we did it. With it being 1-1, we had to react, and we’re very pleased with that. The game was very open, like a tennis match. It could’ve gone either way, but we found the mentality and character to win. Scott is fantastic. He’s an example for many players nowadays. He’s always ready to come on and make a difference,” said Ten Hag.
Villa’s manager, Unai Emery, added, “We were playing well against the mighty Manchester United, but we couldn’t convert some clear chances. The result is tough for us and hard to accept, but football is like that. We played as we planned and deserved more.”
While a top-four finish is still a daunting task for United, they have at least some hope after the triumph.
After poor performances for much of the season, the team is now excelling offensively. Hojlund’s goal against Villa on Boxing Day sparked a run of six goals in seven games for the Danish midfielder.
Having failed to score in any of the first 14 Premier League games, the 21-year-old became the second youngest player to score in five consecutive matches in the competition, behind Nicolas Anelka for Arsenal in 1998.
Hojlund now has 11 goals in 29 games in all competitions in his debut season after being signed from Atalanta.
