Coutinho scores on Aston Villa debut as they Draw Manchester United 2-2

Aston Villa came from two goals down to rescue a point against Manchester United at Villa Park on Saturday evening, as Philippe Coutinho marked his debut with a goal.

Manchester United began the game as the better team and made their early dominance pay with a goal. A quick, inventive free-kick from 30 yards out saw the ball laid off to Bruno Fernandes, who got a shot away that Martinez fumbled into his own net.

The early period of the second half was an end-to-end affair, as Villa would have a good chance followed by one for United, but Bruno Fernandes’ second goal silenced Villa Park briefly. Morgan Sanson gave the ball away inside Villa’s half and Fred got to it before picking out Fernandes, who took a touch and sent a shot towards goal that hit the underside of the crossbar and beat Martinez.
Coutinho’s introduction

Philippe Coutinho was ready to come on just before Fernandes grabbed United’s second, but his introduction saw the crowd at Villa Park get reinvigorated again.

It took just nine minutes for Villa to cut the deficit. A well-worked move from Villa, which started with Tyrone Mings carrying the ball forward from the back, saw Fred try to pinch the ball off of Coutinho in the United box, but the ball dropped at the feet of Jacob Ramsey, who took a touch and fired past De Gea.

Then, four minutes later in the 81st minute, Villa grabbed an equaliser through Coutinho. Emi Buendia, who had an excellent game, played a well-weighted pass into Ramsey’s path, which he then sent across goal and Coutinho was there to fire into the back of the net from close range.

It felt like Villa were going to go on and grab a winner, but in the end they had to make do with a point.

https://www.marca.com/en/football/premier-league/2022/01/15/61e326b122601d173c8b45df.html