Wonder debutant nicks it for United

Macheda introduces himself as the next wonderkid in Man Utd

Remember the number: 41. Remember the name: Federico Macheda. Because if Man Utd do win the title for the 08-09 season, they will have this 17 year-old boy to thank.

It was not the best of starts for Man Utd as they were continuously being pressured by Aston Villa from the beginning. It was clear once again that United had trouble shrugging off their poor form. Villa were not shy to show their attacking intent with a general flow of attacking football from Ashley Young, Agbolanhor and Carew. On the other hand, United were struggling to even get a shot against the Villa goalpost. Tevez was totally ineffective as a lone striker. Nani no doubt could run into opposition area but he's not making any useful passes. At times, he's just firing ridiculous shots from outside the box. The continuous chain of Villa pressure was only broken when Friedel did a boo boo blunder in using his hands to handle Milner's back pass. The result was an inside the box free kick and from that kind of range, there was little chance that Ronaldo will miss. The Portugese winger displayed his scoring prowness once again as he send the ball to the far right beyond the reach of Friedel.

Giggs could have the chance to put the game beyond doubt with two goals up but he missed. A 1-0 lead should settle the home team's nerves but it wasn't to be as Villa persistently knocked on United's goal door. Their moment of equaliser came when some slack defending and ball watching moment from Neville allowed Carew to freely head in the ball past van der Sar. The nature of United's defence allowed Villa to capitalise on one apparent weakness - challenging for high balls and heading them away. Neville and Evra are shorties, O Shea is a gentle giant while Evans is just not experienced enough to deal with them. So, it was not surprising that Carew could equalise on that count with his heading and natural height.

It was deja vu once again when Agbonlahor rose to give Villa 2-1 lead. At that point of time, I was really wondering if Man Utd became the new "Newcastle United". Three losses in a row is EPIC FAIL seriously. And 2 of them are home matches. The plight of United's available substitutes were evident when Macheda was introduced to the game in place of Nani. I guess he had enough of Nani wasting shots already. One of Macheda's early "contribution" was to whine like a baby when he was brought down at the penalty box. One of the Villa defenders carry him up to the laughter of all who were watching the game. Ronaldo managed to get the equalizer for United this time when he succeeded in squeezing a shot just past Friedel. At that point of time, I was contended to just draw the game.

Tevez was finally replaced in the 88th minute by Welbeck and can somebody tell me the rationale behind Welbeck making a bigger threat at Villa's goal within a minute into the game than Carlos' 80+ minutes? The United fans would love Carlos to stay but he has to show them and the managing board that he's worth the 30 million that they are investing in him. All these incessant ball chasing and lack of proper shots are doing him no good at all.

With two minutes left in time, Macheda became the instant hero at Old Trafford when he beat the Villa defender with a 180 body twist and smashing in a superb curling kick that was unstoppable by Friedel. It was a perfect gift to Old Trafford by the 17 year old debutant. Fergie's gamble had paid off. Perhaps it could be right to say that United don't deserve to win this game given the way that they play. But a late 3-2 win is still 3 points in the bag. The win placed United back at the top with one game in hand. Looks like Man Utd lives to fight another day, with the leeway of losing one game still intact at the end of the day.