Aston Villa loan signing Philippe Coutinho produced a brilliant individual display for Brazil overnight as they thrashed Paraguay 4-0 in World Cup Qualifying.
Coutinho started the season as a peripheral figure at the Nou Camp.
But his fortunes have turned around considerably since then.
The presence of Steven Gerrard helped convince the 29-year-old to move from Barca to Villa in mid-January and he made an instant impact, coming off the bench to score an equaliser against Man United on debut.
He started the win at Everton the following weekend and now he’s back starring for Brazil.
It’s true that his first outing of this international block could have gone a lot better, as he was sacrificed 33 minutes into a 1-1 draw with Ecuador following a red card for teammate Emerson Royal.
However, he was handed another chance against Paraguay in Belo Horizonte and he grabbed it with both hands.
Philippe Coutinho shines for Brazil
Coutinho played a major part in an impressive 4-0 win, scoring the Seleção’s second goal with a stunning strike.
The Barcelona loanee received a pass in space around 30 yards from goal and after two touches to get the ball out of his feet, he firing a dipping shot into the top left corner.
It was a moment of outstanding quality which was the highlight of a superb all-round display rated at 8.3/10 by SofaScore.
In his 73 minutes on the pitch, the creator had 72 touches and recorded an excellent pass accuracy percentage of 95%.
He made one key pass creating one big chance, while all six of his attempted long passes found their target.
Coutinho won six of his nine ground duels and one of his two aerial duels, while he only committed one foul but was fouled three times.
He completed three of his five attempted dribbles and only lost possession nine times, whereas the likes of Raphinha and Vinicius Jnr lost the ball 21 and 15 times respectively [SofaScore].
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