Macheda the hero as United claim last-gasp win

Debutant Federico Macheda fired home a stunning late winner as Manchester United claimed an incredible 3-2 win over Aston Villa. The Midlands outfit looked on the verge of a famous Old Trafford victory with ten minutes to go before Cristiano Ronaldo and United's 17-year-old Italian striker snatched the headlines in stunning style.

Liverpool's last-gasp winner at Fulham meant United were under pressure to claim three big points on Sunday.

Despite Villa's recent poor run of form, a difficult afternoon was predicted as Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand all unavailable.

Villa started the stronger of the two sides and United's makeshift centre-half pairing of Gary Neville and John O'Shea was exposed on numerous occasions. Darren Fletcher scrambled a John Carew effort from the line - but it was the hosts who would break the deadlock in somewhat undeserved fashion.

Brad Friedel picked up a James Milner backpass and United had a free-kick inside the box. Ryan Giggs rolled the ball to Ronaldo and the winger fired home a fine strike to the delight of United's nervous supporters.

Villa, however, continued to look dangerous and missed a couple of good chances before restoring parity. Gareth Barry's cross found the head of Carew and, courtesy of some poor Neville defending, the scores were levelled.

Villa, still hoping to catch fourth-placed Arsenal, took the lead on 58 minutes as they continued to push forward. Carew's cross was turned home by Gabriel Agbonlahor and the 3,000 travelling fans from the Midlands were celebrating as if they'd won the F.A Cup.

United, very much under-strength, looked out-of-sorts and changes were necessary. Sir Alex Ferguson raised a few eyebrows as young Macheda came on from the bench to make his debut - but it would prove an inspired change from the Scotsman.

The hosts pushed forward searching for the equaliser - but it looked set to be an afternoon that would, perhaps, hand Scousers a huge opportunity to win their first Premier League crown. Luckily, United had other ideas - and Ronaldo drew the Reds level on eighty minutes as he surged forward and dispatched a fine finish beyond Brad Friedel from the edge of the penalty area.

United continued to plug away and the winning goal was netted in the closing moments of injury-time. Macheda scored a sublime goal - twisting and turning around his defender before curling an amazing finish into the back of the net. Incredible stuff. A starlet is born.

The result sends United back to the top of the table - one point above Liverpool with a game-in-hand. This was a huge win - and in simply incredible fashion.

Full Time - Manchester United 3-2 Aston Villa
Attendance - 75,409