Manchester City continued their mixed start to the Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
Manchester City have not been able to hit top form yet, and they were held by the West Midlands club away from home on Saturday. While star striker Erling Haaland continued his devastating form in front of the goal with his tenth Premier League goal of the season already, the visitors were pegged back, and Aston Villa managed to secure a point thanks to a goal from Leon Bailey.
Manchester City find themselves third in the Premier League table with four wins and two draws from six league outings, and they will hope to turn those draws into wins in the coming weeks. On the other hand, Steven Gerrard will be relatively pleased with the character and fight shown by his players despite making a disastrous start to the Premier League campaign.
Aston Villa will feel that they could have had all three points with a bit more competent officiating. Philippe Coutinho had a goal ruled out for offside, although the Brazilian playmaker seemed to have managed to find the back of the net legitimately.
Aston Villa were in desperate need of a morale boost heading into the game, and the impressive performance against Manchester City will certainly give them some belief. Here at The Hard Tackle, we look at how the Manchester City players fared against Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
Highlights from our draw against Villa ?#ManCity pic.twitter.com/HDYiPHs3d0
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 3, 2022
Ederson Moraes: 6/10
The Brazilian was not called into action too often against Aston Villa, but he managed to produce an outstanding save with his side in the lead. However, Ederson was also involved in a mistake as he dropped the ball from a corner in the first half. Manchester City will feel fortunate to have gotten away with the error.
Kyle Walker: 5/10
The Manchester City defender limped off with a knock in the second half, but he barely had any impact on the game whatsoever. Walker failed to create chances for his teammates going forward, and he looked shaky at the back.
John Stones: 6/10
The Manchester City centre-back had a reasonably good game up until Aston Villa’s equaliser. Stones was partly at fault for the goal, and he will feel he could have done more to prevent the equaliser from Leon Bailey.
Joao Cancelo: 5.5/10
The Portuguese full-back continues to impress going forward, but he remains a liability at the back. Cancelo had a nervy evening defensively, and he will have to improve on that side of his game.
Rodri: 5/10
The Spanish midfielder is usually quite reliable at the heart of Manchester City’s midfield, but he had an uncharacteristic game against Aston Villa. Rodri created a great chance for Aston Villa by giving the ball away first, and then his poor clearance led to the equaliser.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7/10
The German midfielder had an impressive game in the middle of the park, and he helped Manchester City control the tempo with his accurate passing and diligent link-up play.
Kevin De Bruyne: 8/10
The Belgian was undoubtedly the pick of the Manchester City midfielders on Saturday and he will feel that he should have scored himself. De Bruyne rattled the Aston Villa crossbar and managed to create the opener for Erling Harland as well.
Bernardo Silva: 6/10
The Portuguese midfielder is often the game changer for Manchester City in the closely-contested affair, but Silva barely had an impact against Aston Villa. Although he worked hard throughout the game, he failed to create chances for his teammates and trouble the Aston Villa backline.
Phil Foden: 5.5/10
Despite being up against Ashley Young for most of the game, Foden struggled to make an impact on the game in the final third. The young attacker has not managed to hit top form yet this season.
Erling Haaland: 7.5/10
A typical striker’s performance from the Norwegian international once again. Haaland scored the opening goal of the game to bag his tenth league goal of the season. Aston Villa dealt with him impressively for most parts of the game, but he made the difference as soon as the chance arrived.
No Premier League player has reached 10 goals in fewer games than Erling Haaland ? pic.twitter.com/U8XZYo36vf
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 3, 2022
SUBSTITUTES
Riyad Mahrez: 5/10
The Algerian winger was brought on with roughly 20 minutes left on the clock, but he failed to make a difference offensively. Aston Villa managed to score where equaliser after his arrival, and Mahrez missed a glorious opportunity to win the game for the away side.
Nathan Ake: N/A
Ake was brought on in place of Kyle Walker with ten minutes left on the clock and barely had any time to make an impact.
