Dean Ashton feels Philippe Coutinho showed why he deserves to start for Aston Villa with his goal against Arsenal. He also loves how the Brazilian tricked Aaron Ramsdale to score.
Villans boss Unai Emery recalled Coutinho to his starting XI for the visit of the Gunners this Saturday. The midfielder had not opened a Premier League fixture since October 10 under Steven Gerrard before facing Mikel Arteta’s side. His last 10 outings came from the bench.
Coutinho had also not scored or laid on an assist for Aston Villa in the top-flight this season before his goal against Arsenal. The 30-year-old went 19 appearances for 721 minutes this term without influencing a goal. Just 150 of those minutes had come with Emery in charge.
Aston Villa paid Barcelona £17m to sign Coutinho from Barcelona last May following a loan spell at the club. The Birmingham outfit negotiated a cut-price deal for the 69-cap maestro having held a £33m option to buy. Coutinho registered five goals and three assists on loan.
Four of Coutinho’s goals and three of his assists under Gerrard last season came during his first eight appearances. He then went 10 Premier League games without influencing a goal before netting at Manchester City. The Brazilian hit home on the final day of the campaign.
Coutinho dazzled Ashton with the Aston Villa ace’s goal vs Arsenal’s Ramsdale
Coutinho has now finally ended his lengthy goal drought after scoring as Aston Villa hosted Arsenal this Saturday. His attempt also captivated Ashton having deceived Ramsdale in the away net to give Emery’s side a 2-1 lead. He fired home on 31 minutes to restore the lead.
His goal came after Boubacar Kamara played a perfectly weighted ball in behind Ben White on the wing. Alex Moreno then crossed into Emiliano Buendia, who dummied the ball for it to fall to Coutinho in space. He then tricked the £30m goalkeeper to hit the bottom corner.
“That’s why he’s in the side because he can do things like that,” Ashton said on talkSPORT (18/02, 13:05). “It’s a brilliant bit of play, the Aston Villa players combined brilliantly. Buendia is so clever, he knows exactly where Coutinho is.
“He lets the ball run through his legs and Coutinho just gives Ramsdale the absolute eyes as though he’s shooting to the goalkeeper’s left and then just rolls it in the opposite corner. Brilliant from Coutinho, brilliant from Aston Villa!”
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