Manchester United were not impressive and needed and improvement. Carrick responded by making two inspired substitutions, bringing on Fernandes and Marcus Rashford for Van de Beek and Anthony Martial, who were both far from impressive on the night.
The substitutions looked to have changed the face of the game as the visitors gained the front foot, sending their hosts back into their shell as they continued to probe.
The two substitutes combined well with Ronaldo not long after to set up Jadon Sancho, who had only Geronimo Ruli to beat, but somehow, the goalkeeper denied the English man with his legs.
With just 12 minutes of the regular duration to play, Manchester United soon forgot the misery of their earlier missed chance.
Poor play by Ruli at the ball saw him pass a bad ball to Etienne Capoue, who was quickly closed down by Fred, allowing the ball fall to Ronaldo. The Portugal captain lobbed the ball over Ruli, who was already out of position to score his 6th goal in five matches in the Champions League this season.
A land mark for the former Real Madrid and Juventus talisman, with the strike his 140th in the competition and his 799th career goal, both for club and country.
As the game edged closer to its climax the hope of a comeback was killed for Villarreal as Fred won the ball deep in his own half, before releasing the attacking quartet of Rashford Ronaldo, Fernandes and Sancho. The latter got the final ball and his impressive finish went in off the crossbar to win the game for the visitors.
Concluding Thoughts
It was a breakthrough goal for the former Borussia Dortmund star as he scored his first goal for his new club after 15 games and 11 attempts. A huge relief for the £73 million signing.
Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to prove prolific on his second coming to Manchester United as the goal was his 10th in 14 appearances for the club this season. He becomes the first player to score in their first five games for an English club in the Champions League.
While Manchester United maintained their unbeaten run against Villarreal, having not lost to the Spanish side in six meetings, with two wins and four draws (excluding the penalty shootout in the final of the Europa League last season), Villarreal have continued their own poor run against English sides in Europe that has now stretched to 12 games without a win; six draws and losses each.
Their performance on the night was a summary of how their season has been, especially in the Spanish La Liga that see them currently sitting in 12th position, as they look to salvage their season.