Javier Hernandez scored a late winner for Manchester United as they fought from two goals down to beat Aston Villa.

After securing qualification the knockout stages of the Champions League the Red Devils extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a 14th win from their last 16 games.

Paul Lambert, on the other hand, will be looking nervously over his shoulder after Villa slipped to fourth from bottom despite looking comfortable at 2-0 with United in disarray.

The last time Sir Alex Ferguson tasted defeat at Old Trafford was on the opening day of the 1995/96 season in which he fielded a young sided including Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville.

On this occasion it was Villa who sent out a youthful lineup with Ferguson's experienced cast of performers, complete with the erstwhile Scholes, struggling to cope with the hosts vibrancy in the first half.

By the time the half time whistle rang out they were already a goal down with Andreas Weimann sending Christian Benteke scampering down the left before arriving to slam home his cutback past David De Gea from 16-yards.

And five minutes after the interval Weinmann stuck again, escaping away from Rio Ferdinand to slide home Gabriel Agbonlahor's low cross after he was found by Stephen Ireland.

That seemed to serve as a wake up call for the visitors and the deficit was halved just before the hour as Hernandez did well to correct his feet in the penalty area before finishing past Brad Guzan after being played in by Scholes.

Parity was restored three minutes later and it was the Mexican international on target again, slamming Rafael's deep cross against Villa captain Ron Vlaar and into the net.

The home side pressed for a winner but it was United who would steal the points in the dying embers. Robin Van Persie whipped a free kick towards the far post that was met Hernandez, who planted a header into the bottom corner to break the hearts of home supporters.