Villa’s No. 1 denied United from range. He leaped left and, cat-like, parried a curler from Cunha. McGinn converted, placing the ball to the right of Lammens. A topsy-turvy affair stood at 3-2 to Villa.
The stakes had already been framed as a joke. Beforehand, the line was that even United could not lose by the 10-goal margin needed to end the day in 20th place.
Kavanagh blew for time, but not before further bedlam. He sent off what appeared to be a member of Villa’s technical staff.
The opening did not calm that talk. United’s first four minutes were calamitous, and Villa scored again from more slapstick play.
United then looked nothing like the side of those opening minutes. They were slick, fast, cut-throat and in charge.
Hard evidence of the swing came with an equaliser from Tielemans. Villa folded in precisely the way United had.
Zirkzee and Dorgu supplied the goals that grabbed United the point.