Manchester United twice recovered from two-goal deficits to draw 4-4 with Aston Villa at Old Trafford, but the point was not enough to lift Michael Carrick’s side out of the Premier League relegation zone before the international break.
United started the weekend in the bottom three after Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City on Saturday, and their situation appeared to worsen when they conceded twice inside the opening four minutes against Villa.
Alysson opened the scoring inside the first minute when his effort squeezed under Senne Lammens. The goalkeeper then parried another shot from Alysson, but Nicolas Jackson reacted quickest to convert the rebound.
Manchester United were given a route back into the game in the 14th minute after Boubacar Kamara brought down Matheus Cunha in the penalty area. Bruno Fernandes confidently sent the resulting spot-kick into the net.
The hosts grew into the contest and dominated the remainder of the first half. They deservedly equalised shortly before the interval when Youri Tielemans, who joined Manchester United from Villa in the summer, finished from Noussair Mazraoui’s cutback.
However, that progress was quickly undone after the restart. Villa won a penalty one minute into the second half when Diogo Dalot fouled Alysson, with John McGinn making no mistake from 12 yards.
Villa extended their lead again in the 53rd minute following uncertain defending from a free-kick. Leny Yoro headed the ball back towards Lammens, who punched it against his own crossbar, allowing Leon Goretzka to turn in the rebound at the far post.
Aston Villa appeared on course for a victory that would have moved them up to eighth, while United looked short of answers. Instead, the visitors were forced to withstand another late fightback from the home side.
Joshua Zirkzee gave Manchester United hope when he scored two minutes into stoppage time to reduce the deficit to 4-3. Patrick Dorgu then completed the remarkable recovery in the sixth minute of added time, heading in from a corner.
United almost completed the turnaround in the closing moments, but had to settle for a draw after twice coming from two goals behind. It was their third such recovery in a week, following their comeback victory over Roma on Tuesday.
The result leaves Manchester United 18th in the table, one point from safety, with a two-week break now ahead. Although the performance will not completely relieve the pressure on Carrick, particularly after the team’s chaotic defending, he will be the more satisfied of the two managers after claiming a point from a match that had seemed lost.
