Man Utd beat Villarreal 2-1 in their Champions League encounter thanks to a last-minute goal from Cristiano Ronaldo; The forward broke the record for all-time Champions League appearance (178); David de Gea made a string of vital saves to keep Villarreal from scoring.

Sky Sports

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described Champions League nights at Old Trafford as “magic” after Cristiano Ronaldo’s late winner against Villarreal.

Manchester United were on the verge of another European draw when Ronaldo slotted home in the 95th minute to secure his side their first points of the Champions League campaign.

It is the opposite of a fortnight ago when Young Boys stunned United late on, and Solskjaer praised the support of the home crowd on another memorable night at Old Trafford.

He said: “Champions League Old Trafford is magic and sometimes history can help us. Tonight, Cristiano came up with a good goal and Alex [Telles] scored a fantastic goal.

“That’s what happens here at Old Trafford. It’s happened so many times before. We had to throw caution to the wind and we got lucky in the end.

“To get the three points at home is important. We know we need to get to ten, maybe 12 points to go through. It’s a massive result for the team and for the spirit of the team as well. It’s a better way of winning a game than how we lost a few weeks ago. But that’s football, it’s just highs and lows and today we get a result that we’re delighted about.

“I’d rather have a win and a defeat than two draws.”

It was another headline-grabbing goal from Ronaldo, who overtook Iker Casillas for all-time Champions League appearances, having now played 178 times.

“He’s done that so many times,” Solskjaer said. “When you saw him against the Republic of Ireland a few weeks ago [for Portugal], he missed a penalty early, didn’t touch the ball more or less and then scored two great headers in the last two minutes.

“That’s just what he’s done throughout his career. He’s so strong mentally. He stays in the game, I’ve seen him all day today, the way he’s built himself up for this game, how focused he’s been and when he gets that one chance, it’s a goal. But a true mark of a very good finisher is that he keeps calm when the chance arrives.

“He’s so good in front of goal and he has an impact on everyone – the crowd, the players, everyone.”