Aston Villa vs. Manchester United score: Philippe Coutinho leads dramatic late game comeback on Villa debut

Welcome back to the Premier League Philippe Coutinho. The magician was introduced into the match with Aston Villa behind 2-0 in the 69th minute and along with Jacob Ramsey led the charge back for Aston Villa. Something special is brewing at Villa Park when their star signing and an academy starlet are combining to bring the magic. 

The first half saw one of the best Manchester United performances of the season as without Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford the team embodied the Ralf Rangnick way. Two players pressed every Villa possession and Bruno Fernandes was back to running the show after an early goal in the sixth minute.

While Emi Martinez got butterfingers on that goal, United got their noses ahead just enough to fend off Aston Villa attacks. It was almost all United to open the match as Aston Villa didn’t get a true shot off until the 32nd minute when Ollie Watkins forced a save but the Red Devils would wonder why they were only up 1-0 in the early going. 

Diogo Dalot was unable to handle Lucas Digne, also making his Aston Villa debut following a move from Everton, as Steven Gerrard’s team began to round into form in the end of the first half. But David De Gea would stand tall to deny Villa a chance to get back into the game before the break. At the half, Ezri Konsa would be withdrawn for Kortney Hause due to an injury that he picked up and hobbled through with.

Villa would improve slightly after the half but Fernandes doubled Manchester United’s lead in the 67th minute. It ended Fernandes’ dry spell after he wasn’t involved in a goal in his last four league appearances. 

Directly after that goal, Coutinho would enter for Morgan Sanson who wasn’t very happy with being withdrawn, throwing a bottle on the sideline. And from that minute on Aston Villa hit a new gear. Manchester United wouldn’t have another chance of note from then until the final whistle. 

Taking advantage of Manchester United tiring from the press, Coutinho deftly passed to Ramsey who did not miss to bring Aston Villa back into the match. 

While the goal brought relief on the scoresheet, it also brought belief that Villa could power through this match. Only five minutes later, Ramsey set up Coutinho for what ended up being the equalizer for Aston Villa.

For Gerrard, things couldn’t have gone better getting his new boys on the pitch but questions must be asked about Manchester United’s fitness this late into the season. While the press was better without Cristiano Ronaldo, if the team can’t maintain it through 90 minutes, Rangnick needs a backup plan which he doesn’t seem to have even though he has now been with the team two months.