- Manchester United came back from two goals down to win 3-2 on Boxing Day
- Rasmus Hojlund scored his first Premier League goal for the club
- It’s tight at the top of the tree as: Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa all drop points…so who’s winning Christmas so far? – It’s All Kicking Off
Belated though it may have been, Manchester United’s comeback win against Aston Villa on Boxing Day was the perfect Christmas present for their fans.
And few cherished the 3-2 win more than Jonny Evans’ nine-year-old daughter Lottie, who enjoyed a Boxing Day to remember.
‘Our nine-year-old just said: “that was the best Boxing Day I’ve ever had”,’ Helen Evans, the United’s centre-back wife, posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
The Northern Ireland international returned to Old Trafford in the summer eight years after leaving the club, reuniting with his wife, who works for MUTV.
The couple started dating in 2011 an tied the knot two years later, before Evans left United to sign for West Bromwich in 2015.
Jonny Evans (right) celebrates Rasmus Hojlund’s late winner against Aston Villa on Boxing Day
Evans’ wife Helen said the comeback win against Villa was their nine-year-old daughter’s ‘best Boxing Day ever’
His wife – nee McConnell – remained at the club and was part of the media team working with United on their pre-season tour of the United States earlier this summer.
And Evans’ wife then replied with a laughing emoji when Scott Patterson, a prominent United blogger, responded to her initial post with a picture of her husband celebrating Federico Macheda’s injury time winner against Villa at Old Trafford in April 2009.
Making his senior debut, the Italian sealed a dramatic 3-2 win which ultimately swung the momentum in the title race United’s way after Liverpool had leapfrogged them at the top of the table a day earlier.
And there was no shortage of drama at Old Trafford on Boxing Day either as United came from two goals down to win a first Premier League in three weeks.
Evans’ wife – nee McConnell – has been working for United’s in-house channel MUTV for over a decade and first met her husband during an interview in 2011
Evans and McConnell were married at a lavish ceremony in Northern Ireland in 2013
Alejandro Garnacho scored twice to draw United level in the second half
Before Hojlund finally opened his Premier League account four months after joining
Erik ten Hag’s men were booed off the pitch at half-time with Villa 2-0 up courtesy of goals from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker.
But with INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford watching from the stands in the first game since Sir Jim Ratcliffe sealed his takeover of a 25 percent stake in the club, United roared back in the second half.
A brace from Alejandro Garnacho fired the hosts level, before Rasmus Hojlund got his first Premier League goal since a £73million move from Atalanta in the summer to snatch a 3-2 victory in the 82nd minute.
‘I’m the happiest man alive right now,’ the Dane said after the final whistle.
‘You can see in the celebrations as well. We believed until the end and we showed a lot of character.
‘It’s one of the best days of my life. It’s been a while in the Premier League now so I’m happy to get the first one and hopefully I can build on that and keep going.’
The win moved United up to sixth in the table, three points behind Manchester City, who have two games in hand on their rivals.
Villa, meanwhile, remain third three points behind league leaders Liverpool.
