Video: Manchester United vs Aston Villa 4-2 Match Reaction Highlights

In a wild second half at Old Trafford, Manchester United twice rallied from behind to defeat Aston Villa 4-2 and advance to the Carabao Cup's round of 16, where they will visit Burnley.

All six goals were scored after the half, with Erik ten Hag's team behind twice before Bruno Fernandes' deflected goal gave them their first lead and Scott McTominay added the insurance. The outcome partially atones for Villa's 3-1 loss to United in Unai Emery's debut match on Sunday.

There was absolutely no action in the first half, but since it's our duty to report some, Scott McTominay headed a Douglas Luiz corner off the line. If he hadn't, Martin Dubravka would have been there to punch the ball clear.

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But the second half was remarkably different. Ollie Watkins received the ball on the 48th minute and skillfully finished. Nineteen seconds after the restart, Anthony Martial converted a Bruno Fernandes cross for a leveling goal.

After more back-and-forth play, the visitors regained the lead on the 61st minute thanks to an own goal by Diogo Dalot.

However, United persisted, as Marcus Rashford equalized in minute 67 before Tyrone Mings slammed Fernandes' potentially goal-bound drive past Robin Olsen.

To complete the victory, McTominay slipped home Alejandro Garnacho's lovely lofted cross.

REACTION

Erik ten Hag selected Donny van de Beek for the third straight game, and it is still unclear why. He has essentially done nothing for Manchester United; in his two and a half seasons there, he hasn't had a single standout performance, and neither Ole Gunnar Solskjaer nor Ralf Rangnick could muster the courage to pick him.

with justification. He is not only sluggish and weak, but he also lacks a competitive edge, making it absurdly simple to overlook the fact that he is acting. But even worse than that is not the situation.

We saw the difference when Van de Beek went off and he moved infield. By playing him in his preferred No. 10 position, Ten Hag is displacing Bruno Fernandes, his best player and most likely source of a goal, from the middle of the pitch and out wide, where it is much harder for him to affect the game. Ten Hag is also throwing off the balance of his team by taking it away from a winger with pace and the ability to stretch the play.

In Van de Beek's defense, he is still recovering from an injury, but nothing he has done since joining United has given any indication that he is capable, and Ten Hag needs to accept this right away.

Ten Hag Interview:

"First half we controlled the game by good pressing, we won a lot of balls in the opponent's half but then we did the wrong things," Ten Hag told Sky Sports. "We were really bad in transition, missing the pass. We missed a lot of opportunities in the first half. Then in the last seven or eight minutes we were sloppy on the ball.
"At half-time we said keep the pressing but be more direct with passing behind their defence. Then we fight back and I'm really proud of the team that they can do that after Sunday's defeat, after two times they're down.
"They play with a high line. Pass the ball behind. We were quite successful with that in the second half.
"The problem in the first half was we had too many touches and missed the moment to pass the ball behind. That's why we brought Eriksen onto the pitch.”