All Smiles At Old Trafford As Goals Reign Ahead Of Bayern Visit

Ignore the league position, the drone of the plane buzzing the ground in the opening stages, the fact that Manchester United went behind after 12 minutes and have the European Champions as their next opponents, and this was quite a pleasant stroll for frustrated David Moyes and his players.

Although, it could have been worse. United could have prepared for the visit of Bayern Munich by losing to a team thrashed 4-1 on their own ground by Stoke City last week, but they came from behind as they have done so many times in the past and spared the Old Trafford hierarchy any more abuse from dissatisfied supporters.

This was not the most barnstorming of comebacks for the simple reason that Villa never looked convincing enough, despite scoring an early goal.

Ashley Westwood’s opening goal in the 20th minute. The midfielder cleverly sent his free-kick through the hole in the wall where United had negligently allowed two Villa players to stand, and though David de Gea got a hand to the ball, it was insufficient to keep the shot out.

From the moment Wayne Rooney equalised, it was clear there was not going to be an upset. There might have been, Christian Benteke missed two glorious close-range chances barely a minute apart before Juan Mata capped an impressive display with his first goal for United.

Villa never seemed hungry enough to take anything out of the game. Anyone who did not know any different would have assumed they were watching an end of season affair between two mid-table sides with nothing to play for.

United did not fall apart, they diligently worked their way back into the game and this time found greater reward. Shinji Kagawa’s cross and Mata’s running off the ball allowed Rooney to level the scores with a well-placed header, then when Kagawa set up Mata for a shot on the stroke of the interval, Leandro Bacuna took the forward’s legs away before he made contact with the ball. It was a clear penalty and Rooney scored with a confident spot kick.

Moyes’s oft-maligned big signings combined for the third goal, Marouane Fellaini finding Mata in space with the help of a rebound from Ron Vlaar for the Spain international to find the net for the first time since leaving Chelsea.

Javier Hernández reached an inviting cross from fello substitute Adnan Januzaj to leave result at 4-1 for the champions. All smiles at Old Trafford for a change then, at least until Tuesday.

An unexpected result in a knockout competition could still change everything for Moyes, just as it did for his predecessor 24 years ago, but this United manager is going to need his Mark Robins moment against the strongest team in Europe.