Aston Villa 3-3 Leeds United (James ‘9, Coutinho ’30, J Ramsey ’38, ’43, James ’45+2, Llorente ’63 Konsa red ’87)
The classy Brazilian equalised for Villa then set up two goals for Jacob Ramsey to seemingly put Steven Gerrard’s side in the driving seat after Daniel James put Leeds ahead then made it 3-2 in as relentless, open a first half you will see.
But Diego Llorente levelled for Leeds early in the second half and there was still time for more chances and a sending off for Villa defender Ezri Konsa.
This was the first game for both teams for 18 days and it was as if both sides attempted to make up for lost time in a breathless first half.
Leeds struck first blood. Villa captain Tyrone Mings was guilty of a heavy touch in front of his own penalty area which allowed Rodrigo to find Daniel James and the Wales winger slid a low, tight angled shot beyond Emiliano Martinez.
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Villa responded with a towering header from Mings that just flew wide before James rattled the bar with a fierce drive after cutting in from the left.
Coutinho levelled on the half hour with a sumptuous shot on the turn, exquisitely finding the corner of the net from 15 yards after taking a pass from Matty Cash.
Eight minutes later, the Brazilian produced a world class moment that saw Villa take the lead.
Coutinho split the Leeds centre backs with a superb pass to send Ramsey galloping clear and the 20-year-old got ahead of Mateusz Klich to drive past Meslier left footed for his fourth goal of the season.
Villa were further ahead in the 44th minute when Coutinho used the run of Ollie Watkins as a decoy before teeing up Ramsey to his right to fire high into the net.
But in a breathless first half, the action wasn’t over as Leeds pulled it back to 3-2.
James got between Mings and Emiliano Buendia to somehow squeeze a header home after Rodrigo’s cross was sliced by Luiz. Even then there was a further chance as Digne slid Mings’s cross just wide.
More drama followed in the second half. Mings chested Robin Koch’s off the header but the Villa captain made a hash of clearing the next Leeds header when his effort went straight to Diego Llorente, who stabbed home for 3-3 in the 63rd minute.
Konsa saw red in the 88th minute after elbowing Meslier as he attempted to throw the ball out.
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Player ratings
Aston Villa
- Martinez – 6
- Cash – 7
- Konsa – 5
- Mings – 6
- Digne – 8
- McGinn – 7
- Douglas Luiz – 7
- J Ramsey – 9
- Buendia – 6
- Watkins – 7
- Coutinho – 9
- Substitutes:
- Chukwuemeka – 6
- Young n/a
- Chambers n/a
Leeds United
- Meslier – 7
- Ayling – 7
- Llorente – 6
- Struijk – 6
- Dallas – 6
- Koch – 6
- Klich – 6
- Raphinha – 7
- Rodrigo – 8
- Harrison – 8
- James – 8
Substitutes: - Forshaw n/a
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8nscmx2
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