Patrick Dorgu met a corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time, headed it in after goalkeeper Zion Suzuki spilled the delivery, and completed an improbable Manchester United comeback that most of Old Trafford had already stopped watching.

With eight minutes of normal time left Michael Carrick’s side were 4-2 down and heading for a result that would have dropped them to the bottom of the Premier League. Joshua Zirkzee swept the first stoppage-time goal home in the 92nd minute. Dorgu made it 4-4 four minutes later.

A record before the fourth minute

Aston Villa were 2-0 up before Old Trafford had settled in its seats. Alysson smashed a shot under goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Villa’s first attack, and Nicolas Jackson slotted the second in the fourth minute after a loose Leny Yoro clearance.

Opta clocked the second goal at three minutes and 40 seconds, the earliest Manchester United have ever trailed 2-0 in a Premier League game. Chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” rolled down from the home end, aimed squarely at Carrick. Goal called it “220 seconds of hell”.

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Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after Boubacar Kamara fouled Matheus Cunha, and Youri Tielemans’s low shot from the edge of the box squirmed in just before the interval for 2-2. The parity lasted three minutes. Diogo Dalot brought down Alysson shortly after the restart, John McGinn converted the penalty, and Leon Goretzka made it 4-2 in the 53rd minute after Yoro lost his footing at the back.

Carrick almost certainly keeps his job through the break

The point almost certainly keeps Carrick in his job through the international break. INEOS had framed the Chelsea and Villa fixtures as the tests that would decide his future, with a decision due over the two-week international pause. A home defeat and a drop to the bottom of the table had been widely expected to end his tenure.

Before kick-off Carrick had told reporters he had been given no guarantees from the club.

“No, I’ve just carried on as absolute normal,” he said to Caught Offside and other outlets when asked whether he had been told he would still be in charge after the break.

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Cesc Fabregas, the Como head coach, has emerged as a leading candidate to replace him, with INEOS reported by Yahoo Sports to have contacted intermediaries to sound out his interest.

Emery’s Villa leave two points at Old Trafford

Unai Emery’s side led twice by two clear goals and still drove home with a single point. Alysson, a summer signing, scored and won a penalty. Jackson added the second inside four minutes. McGinn and Goretzka looked to have put the game to bed in the early stages of the second half.

Manchester United slipped into the game 19th on seven points from nine matches. The draw lifts them to eight points from 10. The international break now runs until 22 November, with INEOS set to use the fortnight to finalise its review of the head coach.

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