Philippe Coutinho got here off the bench to help Aston Villa earn a factor towards Manchester United at Villa Park, as Steven Gerrard's facet got here again from 2-zero down to attract 2-2.
Bruno Fernandes had given United an obvious commanding lead with goals in every half of, however Steven Gerrard's advent of Coutinho proved to be a masterstroke, as the Barcelona loanee assisted Jacob Ramsey's intention earlier than scoring himself.
Ralf Rangnick opted to desert his favored four-2-2-2 formation in favor of the 4-2-three-1 form associated with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's technology, and the transfer paid off almost immediately, albeit with the help of Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who fumbled Fernandes' speculative shot into his own net.
Martinez partially atoned for his blunders by means of blockading a Mason Greenwood effort, and after a sluggish begin, Villa commenced to exert pressure on United, with David De Gea forced to make several key saves to deny Emi Buendia and debutant Lucas Digne to maintain United's lead.
De Gea maintained his stunning form following the restart, flying all the way down to his right to disclaim Jacob Ramsey as Villa constructed on a strong finish to the first 1/2 and creating a extra habitual save from a Buendia strike.
After dominating the second one 1/2, Villa compounded their very own issues with the aid of present-wrapping United's second aim. Fred capitalized on Morgan Sanson's slack backpass, teeing up Fernandes for his 2nd intention of the game off the bottom of the crossbar.
Sanson became changed without delay afterwards as Steven Gerrard surpassed Philippe Coutinho his Villa debut, and the Brazilian become instrumental in Villa's intention, helping the ball into the direction of Ramsey, who smashed an attempt past De Gea.
