Second-half substitute Javier Hernandez scores a brace as Manchester United ... - NEWS.com.au

Celebration time ... Javier Hernandez proved the difference for Manchester United. Source: AFP

Javier Hernandez hits a second-half double as Manchester United come from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at Villa Park.

The Mexican striker came on as a half-time substitution for Ashley Young and struck just 13 minutes into the second period to put United back into the game.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	11	9	0	2	13	27
2	Chelsea	10	7	2	1	12	23
3	Man City	10	6	4	0	9	22
4	Everton	11	5	5	1	7	20
5	West Brom	11	6	2	3	5	20
6	Tottenham	10	5	2	3	3	17
7	Arsenal	11	4	4	3	7	16
8	Fulham	11	4	4	3	5	16
9	West Ham	10	4	3	3	2	15
10	Newcastle	10	3	5	2	-2	14
11	Swansea	11	3	4	4	1	13
12	Stoke	11	2	6	3	-1	12
13	Liverpool	10	2	5	3	-2	11
14	Wigan	11	3	2	6	-6	11
15	Norwich	11	2	5	4	-10	11
16	Sunderland	10	1	6	3	-4	9
17	Aston Villa	11	2	3	6	-7	9
18	Reading	10	0	6	4	-6	6
19	Southampton	11	1	2	8	-14	5
20	QPR	11	0	4	7	-12	4

He also had a hand in their second in the 65th minute as his cross shot was deflected in by the unlucky Ronald Vlaar before pouncing three minutes from time to head in the winner.

Villa looked as though they were set for an upset victory after a double from Andreas Weimann either side of half-time.

The result gives United a four-point lead over second-placed Chelsea, who host Liverpool on Monday morning (EDT), with champions Manchester City a point further back ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's visit.

"It was an absolutely magnificent result for us,'' United coach Alex Ferguson said.

"It was a magnificent game. Aston Villa were fantastic today and you have to feel sorry for them, but we never gave in.

''(Hernandez) does his natural thing. He's fantastic in the box, with his movement, his quickness, his finding space, and that's got him the goals today.''

Defeat left Villa fourth from bottom, three points above the relegation places, but they more than held their own in the opening 45 minutes and took the lead in first-half injury time when Christian Benteke shrugged off Chris Smalling and squared for Weimann to slot home.

The Austrian was on target again five minutes after the restart as Stephen Ireland found Gabriel Agbonlahor in space on the left and he drilled in a low shot to give Weimann a five-yard tap-in.

But United responded well and Hernandez timed his run onto a Paul Scholes pass to perfection and managed to dig the ball out from under his feet before beating Brad Guzan on 58 minutes.

The visitors were back on level terms five minutes later when Rafael stood up a cross to the back post which was met by Hernandez and his volley struck Vlaar to leave Guzan wrong-footed.

United laid siege to the Villa goal for the final 30 minutes. Their persistence finally paid off through Hernandez again as they took their goal tally to 29 in 11 league games.

Hernandez also took the match-ball and confirmed he has every intention of claiming the second goal which deflected in off Vlaar. Either way the Mexican was the star of the show.