Manchester United's not giving up on the title race just yet.
With arch-rivals Manchester City needing just a United loss on Sunday to clinch the 2020-21 Premier League crown, United forced the Sky Blues to keep the champagne on ice once again after pulling off yet another comeback victory.
This time it was against Aston Villa, who had gone ahead in the 24th minute thanks to a Bertrand Traore goal. However, United's lacklustre first half made way for a brilliant final 45 minutes, in which the second-place side put three goals past Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to keep the title race alive for at least another 48 hours.
It was an all-too-familiar scenario for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men, who needed a big second-half performance to nullify their sleepy first half output.
"Going 1-0 down in the first half, we knew it was gonna be a hard game and we've been in this situation so many times," United defender Luke Shaw told Sky Sports after the match. "Not good enough, the first half, and second half we come back much better and we did it again so obviously that's a positive, but we need to make sure we start the first half better than we normally do."
Shaw said he's not sure why United have been the comeback kids this season. They've won 10 league matches this season after being in losing positions, which is obviously good in terms of team spirit, but Shaw's not convinced that it's a sustainable model for the side.
"To be honest I don't really know," he said when asked why the Red Devils have allowed so many opponents to score first. "Maybe we're not ready for the game or what[ever] but we've got the quality, so we need to step up in the first half, because we can't keep counting on the second-half performances and coming back from from goals down — but we did it again and now we just need to keep going."
However the results are coming, United will want to keep the momentum going. Sunday's win virtually guarantees that the team will be in the Champions League next season, as they've built up an 11-point lead over fifth-place West Ham.
Their slim chances of winning the Premier League title remain alive for now, although United now has to run a gauntlet of matches and stay perfect — Solskjaer's men host Leicester City on Tuesday before facing Liverpool in a rescheduled game two days later. Their final two matches are May 18 (vs. Fulham) and May 23 (at Wolves).
Check out the full highlights of Aston Villa vs. Manchester United above, or on DAZN Canada's YouTube channel.