Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United: Coutinho scores on his debut and hits the Devils

Aston Villa and Manchester United fought a tough duel in the 22nd game of the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday evening (15 January), which featured four goals and several stages, but did not emerge victorious in the final.

The Red Devils were 2-0 up with two goals from Bruno Fernandes but failed to properly manage their hefty lead and the Villas took their blood back to the FA Cup ban of those opponents five nights ago, equalized with two goals in five minutes.

The second, which gave Steven Gerrard’s team the tie, bore the signature of Philippe Coutinho, with the Brazilian midfielder making his debut just 24 hours after formalizing his loan deal from Barcelona, ​​writing just the final 2-2 in 13 minutes after entering of the field as a change.

The game

Manchester United’s start in “Villa Park” was ideal, as they liked to open goals in the first phase. On a foul he won outside the box, Teles equalized the ball on Bruno Fernandes and attempted a right shot, with Cavani making the move to find the ball and confusing Martines who saw him hit him slipped out of his hands and bounced off his feet for 0-1.

That goal boosted the confidence of Rangnik’s players, who then twice threatened Greenwood (in the 18th minute Martines saved and in the 28th minute the English winger’s shot went wide) to reach the half-hour when the visitors 5 finals have had the 3 at home and the hosts don’t have a single final.

However, the picture changed by the end of the first half as Gerrard’s team picked up momentum and De Gea had to intervene twice to keep his team ahead, with a Buendτίαa header in the 36th minute and his Dean shot in the 43rd . minute.

Villa came into play strongly in the second half and in the 49th minute De Gea fell into his right corner to block Ramsey’s shot low, with United in turn ‘replying’ with the good shots from Elanga and Greenwood, leaving few outs .

Those opportunities were a “bell” for Villas’ defense but they didn’t hear them and in 67′ came the second goal with the signing of Bruno Fernandes. False spin by Sanson and steal by Fred who equalized on the Portuguese and he hit with an elusive Martinez right shot to make it 2-0.

This was the Portuguese’s 33rd Premier League goal since February 2020, when he made his debut with the Red Devils, with the only ones to score the most goals in each period being Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane (aged 45 and 34 goals) were or).

However, while everything showed that the game was in the Red Devils’ frame, Aston Villa made a long counterattack in the final stretch of the game and found not one, but two goals through an explosive five-minute burst to level the game!

The start was made in the 77th minute, with the Villas circulating the ball exceptionally and reaching the feet of Jacob Ramsay, who, with an incredible shot to the left, made De Gea 1-2 with his first goal at “Villa Park”.

In the 81st minute ‘Villa Park’ stood up as the tie came for Gerrard’s side, with Ramsay becoming the creator (for the first time in a Premier League game) and Philippe Coutinho (who was substituted in the 68th minute) winning De Gea scored 2-2 on his debut for the new side a few days after moving from Barcelona to Birmingham on loan.

That goal set the game on fire and in the final minutes both teams were looking for the third goal of victory but it didn’t come, the 2-2 sealed the players’ efforts and left a smile on the villains who were capable of it take a point against Manchester United despite the game appearing completely out of their hands.

It’s worth noting that Coutinho scored his first Premier League goal after Boxing Day 2017 (as a Liverpool-era player) and helped Villa avoid a home defeat to United for the first time since 2014!

ASTON VILLA: Martines, Cas, Consa (46′ House), Mings, Dean, Sanson (68′ Coutinho), Louise, Ramsey, Watkins, Ings (76′ Chukuemeka), Buentia

MANCHESTER UNITED: De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Varane, Teles, Fred, Matic, Greenwood (89′ Lingard), Fernandes (89′ Van de Beek), Elanga (78′ Sancho), Cavani

The results of the 22nd game:

Premier League table:

The program of the 23rd game