Rasmus Hojlund was, self-admittedly, the happiest man alive after finally breaking his duck in the Premier League in Manchester United’s thrilling 3-2 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
In what was one of the most memorable games of the festive period, the Red Devils had to wither the storm to end their four-game winless streak.
Heading into the game, Hojlund had gone 14 Premier League appearances without a single-goal contribution.
After being signed for over £70m, the pressure was rising for him to finally end his curse and prove himself worth the major fee that the Red Devils had paid to sign him.
The Danish forward also attracted heavy mockery and criticism on social media.
His lookalike and TikTok musician Sean Mills could not stop trolling him, creating TikTok clips on how Rasmus needs a miracle to end his goal rut.
At one point, it looked like Hojlund would go yet another match without a goal. He saw the Red Devils fall down to being 2-0 down within the first 30 minutes and his entire side ridiculed to a chorus of boos from the disgruntled Old Trafford faithful.
However, in the need of desperation, the United side was able to pull together and rediscover their magic.
They produced a real tour de force in the second half, with Alejandro Garnacho scoring a clinical brace to equalize the game with around 20 minutes remaining on the clock. Just as it seemed like the game was heading towards a draw, Hojlund struck at the best possible moment.
When Rasmus scored, we all felt that ❤️#MUFC || #MUNAVL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 27, 2023
He ended up scoring a superb reflex goal to open his Premier League goal account in style and finally end his goalless run.
Hojlund was clearly overwhelmed by a sea of emotions upon scoring the goal, almost tearing up after netting the winner for the Red Devils.
More than anything else, his emotions was that of satisfaction and relief after finally being able to shut up his doubters for continuously ridiculing him for failing to score in the league.
Amid all the celebrations, the TV cameras were able to catch a brilliant shot which perfectly described the emotions of both teams after the third goal.
While trying to record Hojlund’s reactions, the TV cameras caught him letting out a huge roar in relief of finally being able to end his goalless run.
But just beside him, Aston Villa defender Clement Lenglet had this painful expression of being gutted to lose a match that his side seemed guaranteed to win after the first half.
To his credit, the Barcelona loanee had actually performed well and done his best to keep Hojlund pretty quiet for the majority of the game.
On top of that, he was also able to get the assist for Leander Dendoncker’s goal in the game – only to experience all his good work go to waste in the end.
Well, as the saying goes – one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
In this instance, the Manchester United forward was able to gain a whole lot of confidence and momentum from scoring his first Premier League goal in style and left the Aston Villa defender in despair.
