Manchester United Draw Aston Villa 4-4 in Stoppage-Time Comeback

Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to draw 4-4 with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday, coming back from two goals down twice in one of the wildest games of the Premier League season. Substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu scored in the 92nd and 96th minutes to rescue a point that had looked gone.

Two down inside four minutes

Villa scored twice at the start of each half, and United chased the game from the first minute. Alysson put Villa ahead in the first minute, firing through the legs of goalkeeper Senne Lammens, according to the Associated Press report of the match. Nicolas Jackson doubled the lead in the fourth minute. The two goals came inside 3 minutes and 40 seconds, the earliest United have ever been 2-0 down in a Premier League game.

United had started the day second from bottom, and the home crowd turned on the board as the early goals went in, according to the match reports.

Level by half time, behind again by the 53rd minute

Bruno Fernandes pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after Boubacar Kamara brought down Matheus Cunha in the box. Youri Tielemans leveled in the 44th minute against his former club, his first goal for United, from a Noussair Mazraoui assist. United had also come back from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday, and at half time a repeat looked possible.

The second half started the same way as the first. Diogo Dalot fouled Alysson in the box, and John McGinn scored the penalty in the 48th minute, sending Lammens the wrong way. In the 53rd minute Leny Yoro headed a McGinn free kick against his own crossbar, the ball dropped in a scramble, Jackson could not finish, and Leon Goretzka poked in Villa's fourth from close range, his first goal for the club.

Two goals in stoppage time

United trailed 4-2 going into the 91st minute, and some home fans had already headed for the exits. Zirkzee, on as a substitute, turned in a cross from fellow substitute Dorgu in the 92nd minute to make it 4-3. Then, in the 96th minute, Fernandes swung in a corner, the ball fell loose in a scramble after an error by Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, and Dorgu headed in the equalizer with almost the last touch of the game.

The Times reported that Villa coach Unai Emery went straight down the tunnel after the goal. TNT Sports noted that Emery had been within touching distance of his first ever win at Old Trafford.

A point that changes little in the table

The draw leaves United 18th, inside the relegation zone during a November international break for the first time in 40 years, according to The Scottish Sun, which reported that club chiefs are set to decide on coach Michael Carrick's future during the break. The Times suggested the two late goals may have saved Carrick his job. United's wait for a league win goes on, while Villa, who led by two goals twice, take one point from a game they had all but won.