Macheda enjoying the moment

In a match that ebbed and flowed 漲潮落潮；你追我趕, with both sides alternately taking the upper hand 占上風(fēng), United finally emerged 3-2 winners thanks to a last-gasp goal 壓場一球 by debutant 首次亮相的球員 Federico Macheda.

The 17-year-old substitute curled in a superb strike 超級進(jìn)球 in injury time 傷時賽 to make his debut the stuff of dreams 夢想由此構(gòu)成.

Indeed, the Italian striker said that scoring the winner on his debut 首場比賽 made it the best day of his life.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson praised his young goal hero, but also added a note of caution 提醒, saying, "It's important to keep his feet on the ground. He'll need to handle lots of publicity over the next few days."

By saying he has to keep his feet on the ground, Ferguson means that his player needs to remain professional and not get so excited that he loses control, especially as there will be a lot of attention from the media about him.

Reigning champions Manchester United had struggled of late 近期表現(xiàn)吃力, losing two games in a row 連續(xù), and had dropped into second position 降到第二名 in the league behind Liverpool.

But after digging deep 竭盡全力, and finding inspiration 振作精神 from an untried teenager, United have leapfrogged 超越/跳躍 Liverpool at the top of the table.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will no doubt be relieved with the result, and acknowledged that his side had not performed to their full ability in recent weeks.

He said, "We've had our blip. We had seven, eight players missing today, four or five of the very top team but you can see that these young players are prepared to go right to the very end."

A blip 短時的不振 is a short period in which things do not go well, and Ferguson will hope that United can now maintain their form 保持他們的狀態(tài) with eight matches remaining.

For defeated Villa manager Martin O'Neill, the result was disappointing, especially as his side dominated for periods of the game.

He said, "The defeat is a bitter pill to swallow because we came to Old Trafford and played so well.

"We will have to take this on the chin but we can definitely come back from this."

On the chin  "The defeat is a bitter pill to swallow because we came to Old Trafford and played so well. We will have to take this on the chin but we can definitely come back from this.   Martin O'Neill, Aston Villa manager

Villa boss used two phrases to sum up his disappointment: "a bitter pill to swallow", and "we'll have to take this on the chin".

When something is a bitter pill to swallow it means it is unpleasant but unavoidable.

When he says he'll have to "take it on the chin", he means that although the result was unpleasant, he'll have to accept it bravely and without complaining.

But although the result was disappointing it was not without a positive side.

O'Neill said, "We will gain confidence from this performance. That might sound crazy because we are in the results business - but we were terrific today."

By saying football clubs are in "the results business", he means that in football, no matter how well you play, getting a result is the most important thing.

But despite that, he thought the side played so terrifically 踢得如此精彩 that he has confidence they will get better results in the next few games.