Gary Neville has been left impressed after Manchester United produced a rousing comeback to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Boxing Day.
United looked to be heading for another defeat and another Old Trafford disappointment.
John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker put Villa 2-0 up by half-time, leading to boos from sections of the United faithful.
United roared back after the break though with an Alejandro Garnacho brace – after already having one goal ruled out by VAR – bringing the score level.
The big moment then arrived as striker Rasmus Hojlund swivelled to volley home his first Premier League goal and send Old Trafford wild.
United saw the game out to claim a 3-2 victory which looked rather unexpected after 45 minutes with Hojlund the hero.
Gary Neville reacts to Manchester United performance
United weren’t terrible in the first half but conceded two sloppy goals from set pieces.
Some of the approach play was decent but the lack of sharpness in the final third simply had to be rectified.
United were much better after the break, stepping up the pressing and intensity whilst having the end product to match.
The change in United’s display really impressed pundit Gary Neville, who took to social media to praise a simply ‘brilliant’ second-half performance.
Neville will be like the rest of us – wondering just why United don’t hit those performance levels on a more regular basis!
Neville loved what he saw and the hope is that United can now find that level moving forward, starting with Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
United can’t keep producing mountains to climb
Seeing United produce a famous Old Trafford comeback was certainly thrilling but we can’t see similarly slack defending moving forward.
Villa’s two goals were terrifyingly simple; one free kick which went untouched into the net and a corner nodded across by an unmarked player and tucked in from close range.
United are conceding too many simple goals and leaving Erik ten Hag to try and climb a mountain.
On Tuesday night, United produced the moments to make that climb and leave Villa heartbroken having thrown away a 2-0 lead.
United can’t expect to do this every week though and this result really needs to make United defend those set-piece moments a little better whilst showing greater intensity and attacking sharpness too.
For now, let’s just celebrate a big win, but Ten Hag and many United fans would probably prefer some less stressful wins in the future!
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
