Federico Macheda: Where is the former Man Utd wonderkid now? | OneFootball

On this day 14 years ago, a 17-year-old Federico Macheda shocked the footballing world with a famous last-gasp winner for Manchester United against Aston Villa.

The year was 2009. The date – April 5th. United were in a three-way battle with Liverpool and Chelsea for the Premier League title and had just suffered two league defeats on the bounce.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men could simply not afford to concede more ground in the race for silverware, or else Rafa Benitez's Liverpool side would assume control.

What happened during Man United vs Aston Villa in 2009?

United welcomed Villa to Old Trafford and were considered the heavy favourites.

Indeed, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Nani and Carlos Tevez on the field, Macheda took his place willingly on the bench.

Ronaldo opened the scoring with a low-driven effort, only for John Carew to restore parity.

Struggling with an unfamiliar back four that contained no Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic, Ferguson was forced to use Gary Neville as a makeshift centre-back.

But the plan backfired when United found themselves trailing 2-1 with half an hour to go, leading Ferguson to turn to his substitutes for some much-needed inspiration.

Cue, Macheda.

Within minutes of Macheda coming onto the pitch, Ronaldo equalised for the Red Devils and soon they were searching for a winner.

And, in stoppage time, the debutant produced a moment of magic that the majority of football fans still remember to this day.

Giggs knocked the ball out of his feet and fed the ball into the path of the Italian striker.

Instinctively, Macheda Cruyff turned the defender with his first touch, swung around on to his right foot and curled a sumptuous strike into the far corner, beyond Brad Friedel.

Simply sensational.

It was a goal that secured all three points for Ferguson's team and eventually won them the Premier League title.

Check out Macheda's goal below:

What happened to Macheda?

After his remarkable winner, Macheda had the world at his feet.

He went on to score in his very next game against Sunderland and soon his stock was through the roof.

United fans thought they had a world-class talent on their hands. Little did they know, he would go on to make only 36 total appearances for the club.

Most of his time as a United player was frequented with loan spells: Sampdoria, Queens Park Rangers, Stuttgart, Doncaster Rovers, and Birmingham City.

Yet, none of these proved to be a particularly happy hunting ground for the forward.

In 2014, he penned a deal to Cardiff City after being released from United.

Sadly, however, the move didn't do much to reinvigorate his career, as he scored just eight goals in 33 appearances for the Championship side, before being shuffled along on loan to Nottingham Forest.

Ahead of the 2016/2017 season, both parties agreed to the termination of Macheda's contract via mutual consent. He left Wales for new pastures in his home country of Italy – signing with Serie B side Novara.

What's Macheda up to now?

A slight upturn in form in Italy eventually earnt Macheda a move to Greek outfit Panathinaikos in September 2018.

The striker was prolific in Greece – securing a regular starting berth and notching an admirable 40 goals in 116 appearances.

But after the goals trailed off once again, he was sold at the start of last season to Turkish side MKE Ankaragücü.

After scoring just once in 13 appearances, he was loaned out to APOEL FC in Cyprus, where he has featured just six times.

Now aged 31, Macheda's career could be close to reaching its end.

But regardless of how the next few years turn out, Macheda will forever go down in Premier League and Man United history.