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Premier League review: Norwich beat Everton; Philippe Coutinho nets on Aston Villa debut
A review of Saturday's action in the Premier League, where Philippe Coutinho scored on his Aston Villa debut as they drew with Manchester United.
Results
Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United
- Infogol xG: 1.89 - 1.28
Superb sub Philippe Coutinho sealed a stirring Aston Villa comeback as Steven Gerrard’s men fought back to claim a 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester United.
Having started the week by edging through to the FA Cup third round with a somewhat fortuitous win, Ralf Rangnick’s side looked on course for another hard-fought victory against Villa on Saturday evening.
A howler from Emiliano Martinez gifted Bruno Fernandes an early opener and the stand-in captain fired United further ahead at Villa Park, only for new boy Coutinho’s introduction to spark a fightback.
The former Liverpool star was involved in the build-up to Jacob Ramsey’s thumping strike, with the 20-year-old academy graduate then crossing for the Barcelona loanee to level in front of the Holte End on his Villa debut.
It was a wild end to a thrilling, helter-skelter encounter that United started impressively, yet they failed to build on Fernandes’ hopeful 25-yard opener as Villa grew in confidence and began to frequently test David De Gea.
Fernandes looked to have won it when he fired home off the underside of the crossbar, but marquee January signing Coutinho helped turn things around on a night when fellow new boy Lucas Digne also impressed.
Norwich 2-1 Everton
- Infogol xG: 1.41 - 0.88
Norwich secured their first Premier League victory since November with a 2-1 win over Everton which piled more pressure on Rafael Benitez.
Everton travelled to Carrow Road without a league win since the start of December and defeat against a Norwich team which had been on a six-match losing streak without scoring a single goal will not have eased tensions between the fans and the manager.
The supporters were calling for the Spaniard to leave the club before the game, with banners held aloft, and two goals in quick succession from an own goal from Michael Keane and Adam Idah put the home side on course for a coveted victory.
Keane tapped the ball past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from a Josh Sargent cross to gift Norwich their first goal since November.
Less than two minutes later, Idah was played in by Brandon Williams and poked the ball home just ahead of the Toffees goalkeeper.
Richarlison pulled one back for the visitors shortly after coming on with a perfectly-timed overhead bicycle kick but the Toffees remain without a league win since the start of December.
It was Norwich’s first victory in the top flight since their 2-1 win over Southampton on November 20 and lifts them off the foot of the Premier League table into 18th place, although Newcastle and Burnley have games in hand over the Canaries.
Wolves 3-1 Southampton
- Infogol xG: 2.41 - 1.11
Wolves survived a late Southampton fightback to maintain their European push.
Raul Jimenez’s penalty, Conor Coady’s first Molineux goal for six years and Adama Traore’s injury-time effort earned a 3-1 win.
James Ward-Prowse’s stunning free-kick pulled a goal back for the Saints and Romain Perraud hit the bar just before Traore sealed victory for the hosts.
Bruno Lage’s side were not at their vibrant best but it was enough to squeeze past the Saints to sit eighth in the Premier League.
They are just two points adrift of the top six while mid-table Southampton slipped to a seventh defeat of the season.
Newcastle 1-1 Watford
- Infogol xG: 1.51 - 1.57
Joao Pedro snatched a priceless victory from Newcastle’s grasp as Watford struck late to deny them a foothold in the fight for Premier League survival.
The Portuguese frontman headed the Hornets level three minutes from time to stun the locals among a crowd of 52,223 at St James’ Park and claim a 1-1 draw.
Eddie Howe’s men, who had £25million signing Chris Wood among their number for the first time, looked to have won it through Allan Saint-Maximin’s superb 49th-minute strike, but they retreated as the visitors sought a way back into the game and ultimately were made to pay for their passivity.
Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
- Infogol xG: 1.01 - 0.42
Kevin De Bruyne scored a brilliant winner as Premier League leaders Manchester City moved 13 points clear with a 1-0 victory over second-placed Chelsea on Saturday.
The Belgian playmaker, who had an unhappy spell at Chelsea early in his career, curled beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga from distance to settle a tight contest at the Etihad Stadium with 20 minutes remaining.
It was a moment of magic worthy of winning any game but was the least City deserved having dominated against the side that beat them in last season’s Champions League final.