Manchester United 4-4 Aston Villa: Dorgu Saves Carrick

Michael Carrick's job survived another evening at Old Trafford, but only just, and only because Patrick Dorgu refused to accept what the scoreboard was telling him. Manchester United trailed Aston Villa 4-2 as the game moved into stoppage time, then scored twice to snatch a 4-4 draw that was both a reprieve and an indictment.

The point leaves United 18th, inside the relegation zone, and stretches their run without a league win to eight games. It also exposed a familiar flaw. Villa were two goals up inside four minutes and scored four times from just six shots on target.

Edward and Jackson stun Old Trafford inside four minutes

Barely a minute had passed when John McGinn slipped a pass into the box and Alysson Edward met it first time, threading his finish through Lammens' legs. Three minutes later it was 2-0. Lammens spilled a blocked effort, and Nicolas Jackson was there to tap in from point-blank range.

That was Jackson's sixth league goal of the season. He has now scored in five of Villa's last six league outings. For a side unbeaten in six, an early lead against a struggling home team was the ideal script.

United's way back began from the spot. Boubacar Kamara brought down Matheus Cunha in the 16th minute, and Bruno Fernandes drove the penalty low past Zion Suzuki. It was his fourth league goal of the season, in nine appearances.

The equaliser arrived a minute before the break and carried its own subplot. Noussair Mazraoui laid the ball back for Youri Tielemans, whose left-footed drive flew into the bottom-right corner. It was his first goal in a United shirt, scored against the club he had left only months earlier, and it sent the teams in level at 2-2.

McGinn and Goretzka punish United after the restart

Whatever was said at half-time lasted three minutes. Diogo Dalot tripped Edward inside the area, and McGinn hammered the penalty past Lammens to restore Villa's lead.

Five minutes later, United's defending came apart again. Leny Yoro headed McGinn's free-kick against his own crossbar, and the ball dropped loose. Jackson squared it, and Leon Goretzka bundled it in from close range. Two goals in five minutes had wiped out everything United built before the interval.

From there, the numbers describe a home side pushing without control. United finished with 26 shots to Villa's 12 and nine on target to six. They won eight corners to Villa's one and had 56% of the ball. They owned territory for long spells, yet Villa's visits to the other end carried the sharper edge until the very last minutes.

Dorgu and Zirkzee rescue United in stoppage time

Dorgu came off the bench for a 24-minute cameo that turned the evening on its head. With Villa still 4-2 ahead as the clock passed 90 minutes, United scored twice in stoppage time, and the Danish substitute was at the centre of both goals.

For one, he slid a pass into the box from the left, and Joshua Zirkzee finished with a low strike. For the other, he rose inside the six-yard box to meet a Fernandes corner and head firmly into the net. Fernandes, who had started the fightback from the spot, supplied the delivery.

Old Trafford erupted, and the technical areas followed. Furious confrontations broke out on the touchline. Unai Emery, enraged by the late officiating and his side's defending, stormed down the tunnel before the final whistle, and a member of Villa's staff was sent off.

Carrick survives the night, but not the questions

United's midweek comeback against Roma in Europe had looked like it might buy Carrick some breathing space. This result offers spirit but no relief. United have one league win from ten matches, eight points and a place in the bottom three heading into the international break.

According to the Manchester Evening News and the Independent, the board is weighing replacements with Premier League experience. Carrick spoke about continuing the work already under way. "We haven't won enough games, but I expect to move forward and keep working on things that we've been working on and showing a lot of the good in the game today, tighten up on a few mistakes and win football matches," he said.

The fixture list does him no favours. After the break, United travel to Anfield. The lapses that cost them here could prove even more expensive there: two goals conceded inside four minutes, a penalty given away and a scrambled goal after half-time.

Villa will feel they let something slip. They sit tenth on 13 points, are unbeaten in six and have scored in each of their last seven league games, 14 goals in all. A win would have pushed them towards the upper half of the table. Instead, the evening ended with Emery walking down the tunnel before the whistle.

For United, the draw changes little in the table. Carrick has another point and another late rescue to his name. What he does not yet have is a team that can protect a scoreline, and that is the question the board will be weighing over the break.