10 Memorable Man United Goals Scored By Ordinary Players

2. Federico Macheda vs Aston Villa, April 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8gIJ5_354 Federico Macheda was supposed to be next big thing at Old Trafford. It's been five years since his he shot to fame as a teenager with that wondrous effort against Aston Villa, and since then he has done virtually nothing. Now plying his trade at Cardiff City at 23 years old, it doesn't look like the Italian will quite join the list of Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale who lived up to their billing after having commentators caught up in a tizzy at a young age. Whatever the fate of his career, Macheda will cherish that introduction into English football until the day his idea, such was the explosive nature of it. At just 17 years old, he had only signed his first professional contract at the start of the season, and had spent the entire season in the reserve team until Sir Alex Ferguson drafted him into the squad for the clash with Aston Villa in April. With the Red Devils in danger of letting the title slip to Liverpool following a 4-1 reverse to the Merseyside outfit and a loss at Craven Cottage immediately preceding the game with Aston Villa, three points were a necessity to get their title charge back on track. With Man United trailing 2-1 at home to Villa in a nightmarish scenario going into the last third of the game, Macheda was thrown on in an act of desperation, preferred ahead of fellow youth player Danny Welbeck. Once Cristiano Ronaldo equalised with a long-range drive, the stage was set for the fairytale scenario. With half the stadium and most of the Villa players having no idea who he was, they would certainly be leaving Old Trafford with one name etched into their brains. Receiving a pass from Ryan Giggs with his back to goal in injury-time, he showed the confidence and skill of a man ten years his senior to expertly flick it past his marker and curls home an exquisite goal from the edge of the box into the far corner. It was quite probably the best goal ever scored by a 17 year old in the Premier League, and the importance of it was huge, as it awakened a title challenge that looked to have been shaken by a confidence-sapping 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool.