A late goal from Phillippe Coutinho on his Aston Villa debut, after turning the provider in the first goal, helped Aston Villa hold Manchester United for 2-2 draw from a two-goal deficit at Villa Park here on Saturday night.
United had just taken a 2-0 lead, thanks to Bruno Fernandes' second goal of the game, when Coutinho entered as a substitute to loud cheers at Villa Park.
The Brazil playmaker played a part in Jacob Ramsey's 77th-minute goal that gave Villa hope, then turned in a low cross from Ramsey at the far post five minutes later in front of the Holte End.
It was a second match in six days between the teams, with United having edged a somewhat fortuitous 1-0 win in the FA Cup on Monday.
Ralf Rangnick’s side looked on course for another hard-fought victory against Villa after Emiliano Martinez let a long-range shot from Fernandes squirm through his grasp and through his legs in the sixth minute.
Fernandes, the stand-in captain with Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo still missing because of injuries, added a brilliant second in the 67th from a shot in off the crossbar after Villa lost possession in its own half.
Coutinho provided a wild end to a thrilling encounter that United started impressively without Ronaldo for a second straight game.
United stayed seventh, a point behind Tottenham having played two games more. Spurs were due to play Arsenal on Sunday but the game was called off on Saturday.
(Reported by AP)
