John McGinn conceded his Aston Villa team-mates failed to manage the important moments during their enthralling 4-4 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

Unai Emery's side missed the chance to climb up the Premier League table on Sunday after twice letting a two-goal lead slip against an out-of-form United team.

Alysson and Nicolas Jackson got the Villans off to a blistering start with two goals in the space of three minutes and 40 seconds, which was the earliest United had gone behind by two goals in a Premier League game.

Indeed, it was also the earliest a side had gone 2-0 up in an away game in the competition since August 2014, when Chelsea did so after two minutes and 53 seconds at Everton.

But United hit back through a Bruno Fernandes penalty and Youri Tielemans' 44th-minute finish, but just like they did in the first half, Villa flew out of the blocks after the interval.

Diogo Dalot fouled Alysson inside the area as McGinn dispatched the resulting spot-kick in the 48th minute, with Leon Goretzka then finding the back of the net five minutes later.

However, Patrick Dorgu climbed off the bench to inspire a stoppage-time comeback, first teeing up Joshua Zirkzee before the United full-back rose highest to head Fernandes' cross past Zion Suzuki and seal a share of the spoils. 

"We have to manage these moments better. Not a lot of teams will come here 2-0 and give goals away," McGinn told BBC Match of the Day.

"We have to defend better in those positions. In the last 10 minutes of each half, we have to manage better.

"We have a lot of inexperienced players but a lot of talent, and that's why we score goals. It doesn't matter if United are low on confidence; you're always up against it.

"The third goal was really poor and gave them a lot of encouragement to score. We lost two points. We threw it away. The last five minutes were just madness. It's going to sting.

"The manager is a winner; he'll be hurting the way we are. We go play international football, but he'll dwell on it for two weeks."

2 - Aston Villa have won 15 of their 17 away Premier League games under Unai Emery when leading by 2+ goals... ...but the two they haven't won have both been at Old Trafford, losing 3-2 to Man Utd in December 2023 and drawing 4-4 today. Block. https://t.co/usRX4imXeX

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 8, 2026

Villa scored four goals in a match against United for the first time since November 1963, a 4-0 win in the top-flight. At Old Trafford, it is the first time since a 4-3 win in August 1930.

However, Villa netted four goals in a Premier League game and failed to win for the first time since December 2007 against Chelsea (4-4), much to Emery's disappointment. 

The Villans are the first team to go two goals ahead twice (2-0 and 4-2) in a top-flight match and fail to win since Southampton in April 2023 against Arsenal (2-0, 3-1, drew 3-3).

When Dorgu headed home the 96th-minute leveller, Emery was seen storming down the touchline and could not hide his disappointment at dropping two points. 

"A very difficult match. We competed well, and we struggled in the first half after our two goals. Second half, we had good balance to try to win the match," Emery told Sky Sports.

"Scored two more goals and when we were controlling the game in the last six minutes they scored two goals. They can do it – they did it against Roma. My analysis is that, overall, we have lost a good opportunity to win the match.

"We have young, talented players; we need to get this mix. We are being demanding to play at this level. United showed their level. We must continue working, move on and analyse how we can defend better, and in the moment we were dominating, get the better attack.

"We are disappointed, frustrated because, in minute 90, we are winning 2-4. We will accept the result because we have won three and drawn three in last matches, and we're doing well. But we have lost two points.

"We must be positive even in defeat, because we have to continue moving on with the process."