Alejandro Garnacho breaks Michael Owen's Premier League record with game-saving Man Utd brace in Aston Villa comeback win

United secured an unlikely three points to beat high-flying Aston Villa at Old Trafford in their first game since Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% purchase of the club. The visitors were 2-0 up inside the opening 30 minutes through John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker before a Garnacho brace and Rasmus Hojlund's first Premier League goal sealed a remarkable 3-2 win. As a result, Garnacho became the youngest player (19 years and 178 days) to score two goals or more on Boxing Day in the Premier League, surpassing Michael Owen (20 years and 12 days against Newcastle in 1999).

United looked like they would suffer another galling defeat following their 2-0 loss at West Ham last time out, but Garnacho kickstarted a stunning and unlikely comeback for the Red Devils. This may just delay the inevitable when it comes to Erik ten Hag's managerial future, but the result lifts them up to sixth whereas Villa missed the chance to go second in the table.

After 1,000 Premier League minutes, summer signing Hojlund finally scored his first Premier League goal. The 20-year-old swapped Serie A side Atalanta for United in the summer in a £64 million ($81.4m) move, but this was only his sixth goal for the club in 23 appearances in all competitions.

Following the victory, the Red Devils round off 2023 with an away trip to Nottingham Forest on December 30, while Unai Emery's team host relegation-threatened Burnley on the same day. After that, both teams are in FA Cup action a week or so later.