Premier League: Villa and Leeds play out a classic

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Aston Villa 3 - 3 Leeds United

Aston Villa and Leeds shared six goals to produce one of the Premier League games of the season.

It was a gripping contest played at incredible speed. The two sides traded blow after blow. Leeds scored the first goal of the game. Dan James placed a low finish into the far corner.

The Welsh winger had two further chances for the buoyant away side, hitting the bar with one from range. Villa hit back in style, Coutinho slotted in a low shot before twice setting up young midfielder Ramsey for a pair of superb finishes past Illan Meslier.

The side and James had the final word before the break, with the forward defying his small stature to leap and head home a looping ball from close range.

They also had the first and ultimately final say of the second half, drawing level when Diego Llorente fired in following a fluffed Tyrone Mings clearance from a corner.

There was still enough time for a red card too, with Villa's Ezri Konsa catching Meslier with a forearm after a corner to earn his second booking and an early exit.

That incident led to a fractious finale in which tackles flew, frustrations flared and more than one player flirted with joining Konsa in the dressing room.

The point maintains Leeds' six point advantage over the bottom three. It keeps Aston Villa 11th on 27 points, four more than Leeds.

Highlights

You can watch the highlights of the match in the video below. Footage from Leeds United Official - YouTube 

Coutinho praise

After the match, Villa boss Steven Gerrard was full of praise for Philippe Coutinho. He told the Villa website: “In terms of the impact he’s had so far, it’s been no surprise to me because he’s a wonderful footballer.

“We had time to get him settled in here, he’s settled really quick, all the staff have been fantastic in terms of their support around Phil.

“And he’s back smiling. He’s training hard, the players appreciate his talent and are helping him as well so it’s in a real good place at the moment and long may that continue.”

Premier League news (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)

More Twitter reaction

The social media platform was full of praise for both teams attacking display.

The Square Ball tweeted: " Relegation threatened, under pressure, desperate #LUFC, who while six points from the relegation places can still turn up to cause fun. That’s not naivety, that’s what I want."

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