Aston Villa 2-2 Man Utd (Ramsey 77′, Coutinho 82′ | Fernandes 6′, 67′)
Philippe Coutinho came off the bench to help earn Aston Villa a point as Steven Gerrard’s side recovered from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Manchester United at Villa Park.
Bruno Fernandes had put United in a seemingly commanding lead with goals in each half, however, the introduction of Coutinho proved to be a masterstroke from Gerrard as the Barcelona loanee played a key part in Jacob Ramsey’s strike before scoring the equaliser himself.
Ralf Rangnick decided to ditch his favoured 4-2-2-2 system in favour of a 4-2-3-1 shape that was synonymous with the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era and the switch paid off almost instantly, albeit with a helping hand from Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who fumbled Fernandes’ speculative shot into his own net.
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De Gea continued to impress after the restart, flying down to his right to keep out Ramsey as Villa built upon a strong end to the first-half at the start of the second and making a more routine save from a Buendia strike.
After being on top during the second half, Villa were guilty of gift-wrapping United’s second goal for them. Morgan Sanson’s slack backpass was seized upon by Fred who teed up Fernandes to rattle in his second goal of the game off the underside of the crossbar.
Aston Villa (4-3-3)
- Emi Martinez – 5
- Matty Cash – 6
- Ezri Konsa – 6
- Tyrone Mings – 6
- Lucas Digne – 6
- Morgan Sanson – 5
- Douglas Luiz – 7
- Jacob Ramsey – 8
- Emi Buendia – 7
- Ollie Watkins – 6
- Danny Ings – 4
Subs:
- Kortney Hause – 6
- Philippe Coutinho – 8
- Carney Chukwuemeka – 6
Man Utd (4-2-3-1)
- David De Gea – 7
- Diogo Dalot – 6
- Victor Lindelof – 6
- Raphael Varane – 5
- Alex Telles – 6
- Nemanja Matic – 6
- Fred – 7
- Mason Greenwood – 7
- Bruno Fernandes – 8
- Anthony Elanga – 7
- Edinson Cavani – 6
Subs:
- Jadon Sancho – 5
- Donny van de Beek – N/A
- Jesse Lingard – N/A
Sanson was substituted straight after as Gerrard handed Coutinho his Villa debut and the Brazilian played an important part in Villa’s first goal by helping the ball into Ramsey’s path who smashed an effort beyond De Gea.
And Coutinho capped a dream debut at Villa Park by tapping home Ramsey’s cross to make it 2-2 much to the delight of his new fans.
Man of the match – Bruno Fernandes
Fernandes hasn’t looked an ideal fit for Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 formation and it was no surprise that he was far more effective in his more natural role as a No 10. While there was a degree of fortune about his opener given Martinez made an uncharacteristic error, his second was brilliantly executed. As good as Fernandes was, he was overshadowed by another playmaker as Coutinho salvaged a point for his new club.
How did Villa’s debutants fare?
Steven Gerrard has certainly been backed during the January transfer window, with Villa’s board sanctioning the loan signing of Coutinho from Barcelona and the £23m purchase of Digne from Everton.
Gerrard opted to start Digne at left-back, while Coutinho was named on the bench and introduced as a substitute with just over 20 minutes to go, after Gerrard had confirmed he wasn’t fully fit on Friday.
Digne has been signed to provide greater attacking impetus to Villa’s left flank and the Frenchman certainly looked to make an impact in the final third by whipping crosses into the box at any opportunity and having two shots on goal. The 28-year-old was also booked for a mistimed challenge on Diogo Dalot.
Coutinho’s first meaningful contribution was to fluff an attempted corner but he soon got to grips with the tempo of the game. His presence inside the penalty area caused confusion and led to Ramsey’s goal, before he made it 2-2 with a tap-in after ghosting unchecked into the six-yard-box.
Coutinho: It was a good start – I’m very happy to be here
Coutinho was delighted to get off to a good start with Villa after enduring a difficult spell with his parent club Barcelona in the first half of the campaign.
“I missed these games, I missed the Premier League,” the former Liverpool midfielder said after the game. “Like I said before, I’m very happy to be here, to meet my new teammates. So yes, it was a good start. I think we had a good game, we kept believing until the end and could win the game.
“I was a little bit [nervous]. I don’t speak English very well, I prefer to play and be on the pitch than to keep talking so I’m happy. It’s the first game so we move on. I want to work hard to improve and be in better shape.
“I’m happy to play with all the guys here, they are all really good. I’ve had many ups and downs [at Barcelona] but it’s already in the past. I’m here and I want to focus on the objectives of the club and the manager and I want to do a good job to help my teammates and the club.”
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