Teenage hero hands United vital win

Villa looked certain victors once John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor had overturned Cristiano Ronaldo's opener.

But Macheda's arrival changed the course of the game. Ronaldo brought United level 10 minutes from time before the young Italian turned onto Ryan Giggs' pass and produced a brilliant finish.

On the back of an eight-match winless streak, Villa's confidence was a bit fragile but their dominance in the 14 minutes before Ronaldo's wonder-goal provided enough evidence for them to retain self-belief even after they had gone behind.

Normally the kind of opportunity provided when James Milner and Brad Friedel got themselves into a muddle, forcing the Villa keeper to handle a back pass, could be a bit of a negative given its proximity to the opponents' goal. Not on this occasion.

Ryan Giggs brushed the ball to his illustrious younger team-mate, who sent it over the wall and into the roof of Friedel's net in a flash.

Edwin van der Sar was called upon to keep Villa out on three occasions but there was nothing he could do to deny Carew when Gareth Barry wriggled his way into space by the touchline. The Norwegian crept between Neville and O'Shea to steer a deft header into the bottom corner.

And Villa took the lead in the 58th minute when Agbonlahor rose majestically to find the bottom corner with a neat header.

Ferguson then introduced Macheda and it brought an immediate improvement and when Michael Carrick exchanged first-time passes with Giggs on the edge of the Villa box, he then presented Ronaldo with a lay-off. The world player of the year did not have a lot to aim at but he found the one small gap Friedel was unable to cover.

Still, when Friedel denied Danny Welbeck two minutes from time, it seemed United would have to settle for a point until Macheda struck.