Alejandro Garnacho saves Erik ten Hag’s blushes as Manchester United battle back to stun Aston Villa

Since the day Alejandro Garnacho first broke into the Manchester United side, his insistence on shooting no matter the moment has inspired and baffled in equal measure. He was and is what promising young wingers should be — fearless to a fault, utterly undimmed by the moments where it all goes wrong, secure in the knowledge it will eventually click.

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That it emphatically did in the second half at Old Trafford, a brace by the 19-year-old saving Erik ten Hag from further awkward questions as Manchester United handed Sir Jim Ratcliffe the perfect Christmas present, the come-from-behind 3-2 win that the new minority owner has so loved in his years supporting the club. The margin of victory over Aston Villa could have been more emphatic but for the wastefulness of many in red, Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund, whose first Premier League goal in over 1,000 minutes won this game, certainly among them. At their tender age, however, a degree of profligacy ought to be priced in. Frankly, United’s desperation for goals is such that they can hardly afford to be sniffy about how many chances a player needs if he ultimately puts the ball in the net.

The youngsters being the saviors hardly seemed likely in the 48th minute. The script was taking on a familiar shape. A quarter hour or so of eminently adequate football was about to be undone by United’s propensity for self-immolation at the other end of the pitch, two soft set piece goals in five minutes propelling Villa to the top of the Premier League. The hosts’ failings were ones of execution rather than effort, they were eminently capable of getting to the final third but contrived to put passes astray, to run down blind alleys when teammates were better placed.

Garnacho’s first goal should have come in the 48th minute rather than the 59th but he spoiled a flowing move down the left by allowing himself to drift offside. That had been the story of his and United’s first half. A promising position saw the Argentine loop a pass several yards away from the well-placed Hojlund. When the ball did come to the Dane he betrayed the signs of a man who feared that first Premier League goal might never come, taking an extra touch when Bruno Fernandes delicate delivery was crying out for a first time volley.

This is perhaps what one of Europe’s most storied sides get when building their team around colts. Sometimes they will bolt in exactly the wrong direction. That is eminently apparent when examining Garnacho’s shot chart, for instance. Too often he is wayward, smashing the sort of low value efforts that are not going to endear him to his more demanding teammates. But this teenager is getting into positions where he can ask questions of goalkeepers. Since the start of last season, he averages 3.74 shots per 90 minutes of Premier League play, a tally that places him just below Erling Haaland and ahead of Harry Kane. A reminder, in case you need it, that both those world class center forwards play in systems designed first and foremost to get shots for them. Ten Hag is not building his team to ensure that Garnacho gets to take as many punts as possible.

Shots by Alejandro Garnacho in the Premier League. TruMedia

For now the Dutchman’s priority should probably be coaching some of the more wild attempts out of Garnacho’s game but that is a better challenge for the training ground than trying to imbue end product into anyone. Anyway, there was enough of that tonight … eventually. Having caught himself offside once, Garnacho did not make the same mistake again when Fernandes won the ball back high up the pitch and slipped Marcus Rashford through down the left. His low cutback was steered in at the back post, the 440-minute goal drought broken just as it was threatening to get longer than a Kamasi Washington album.

Old Trafford tails were up and Fernandes, exceptional in United’s pursuit of victory, picked out Garnacho on the edge of the box, his shot deflecting off Diego Carlos and beyond Martinez. Suddenly this new era at Old Trafford took on a familiar timbre. United’s third seemed inevitable and of course the Premier League’s script writers had decreed that now was the time for Hojlund to follow his teammates in breaking their lengthy drought. His hooked flick against the far post was quite the way to do it, Andre Onana hurtling up the field to embrace the goal shy 20-year-old.

That Hojlund’s winner bore all the hallmarks of Villa’s second ought not to be lost on Ten Hag, who will know how close he came to deep trouble before his young charges delivered. In five first-half minutes, Unai Emery’s side offered a healthy reminder of how far behind the times United’s staff are, two set piece goals that might have been tailor made for them by Austin MacPhee at Bodymoor Heath. A John McGinn free kick that eluded everyone — including a clumsy Onana — and Leander Dendoncker’s unmarked flick from eight yards out are not the sort of goals that defenses packed with veterans should concede. On this night, the bright young things bailed United out. They won’t always.