Stevenage trolled Philippe Coutinho for his performance when he was withdrawn by a winning Aston Villa during their FA Cup clash on Sunday.
However, the joke landed squarely on the Premier League side, as the League Two club struck twice late on to seal a legendary shock in England’s leading cup competition.
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Villa were leading through Morgan Sanson’s first-half goal when Coutinho was substituted by boss Unai Emery in the 66th minute. He was replaced by Emi Buendia.
Stevenage’s tweet slating Philippe Coutinho’s performance came while they were still behind
The Brazilian playmaker was withdrawn in the 66th minute with Aston Villa 1-0 up at the time
Stevenage tweeted: ‘Philippe Coutinho comes off. The substitution took longer than usual as they had to dig him out of Luther James-Wildin’s back pocket.’
The Boro turned the match around, capitalising on Leander Dendoncker’s red card to first equalise through Jamie Reid’s penalty, and then to steal it two minutes later through Dean Campbell.
Stevenage will now travel to Championship side Stoke City in three weeks time with an eye on making the Fifth Round of the prestigious national tournament.
Stevenage utilised a man advantage to strike twice late on to seal their Fourth Round place
Right-back James-Wildin, 25, previously played for Notts County before joining Stevenage in 2018, making over 160 appearances for The Boro.
However, the tweet hailing his performance against Coutinho attracted some controversy for its timing – while Stevenage were losing – and some praise for its perceived accuracy and humour aimed squarely at a major target.
Luther James-Wildin, seen tackling Leon Bailey, joined Stevenage from Notts County in 2018
Coutinho, a former Liverpool and Barcelona playmaker, has been left out by Emery in Premier League fixtures since his arrival at Aston Villa late last year, and his performance against Stevenage left a lot to be desired.
One fan of the opposition replied to Stevenage after the comeback was sealed, stating: ‘Fair play. He was poor for us today… and last week… and last year.’
Another wrote about the wider team, tweeting: ‘Well deserved @StevenageFC. Worked harder, had more desire, was disciplined and took your chances. Good luck v Stoke. We had a team full of internationals so no excuses.’
Aston Villa fans on Twitter slated Coutinho’s performance as well as the team’s showing
The Brazilian has been linked with a loan move back to his homeland, with South American giants Corinthians wanting to use him for the upcoming Serie A season.
Aston Villa’s focus returns to their Premier League campaign with matches against Leeds United and Southampton left in the month of January.