Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City 5 Talking Points as Pep Guardiola s men are held to a draw Premier League 2022-23 × Follow Us Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout Football EPL 2022-23 Listicle

Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City 5 Talking Points as Pep Guardiola s men are held to a draw Premier League 2022-23

By Arnav Kholkar Modified 04 Sep 2022 Follow Us Comment Share Aston Villa v Manchester City - Premier League Manchester City played out a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, September 3. Aston Villa came into this game on the back of a dismal run of games. They managed a win and four losses in their opening five games, earning three points in the process. Their only win was against fellow strugglers Everton. Steven Gerrard's men were keen to put in a strong performance against the defending champions. Manchester City, on the other hand, entered this contest as one of only three sides in the league with an unbeaten record. Their record read the opposite of the hosts', having won four and drawn one game prior to this one. Pep Guardiola fielded an unchanged lineup as he looked to extend their run. All eyes were on Erling Haaland, who has scored two hat-tricks in his last two games. City Xtra@City_XtraOfficial: #ManCity Starting XI vs Aston Villa.1968128Official: #ManCity Starting XI vs Aston Villa. https://t.co/AMM76cioWy Aston Villa made a composed start to the game, defending in numbers and preventing Manchester City an easy run at goal. They tried to compact the central areas of the pitch in a bid to force the visitors wide. However, Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne's passing range was too much for the Villans to contain. The hosts suffered a moment of worry as Matty Cash went down injured and had to be replaced by Ashley Young. The veteran rolled back the years and showcased his experience as he made a strong start to give his teammates and the crowd a boost. Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa did well to contain Haaland in the first period. Kyle Walker had a glorious opportunity to tee up the Norwegian, but went for goal himself in what turned out to be the biggest chance for Manchester City. The game stayed deadlocked at 0-0 as the sides went into the break. Premier League@premierleagueHALF-TIME Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

Ollie Watkins has the best chance of the opening half, as the hosts stand firm at the back

#AVLMCI2661176HALF-TIME Aston Villa 0-0 Man CityOllie Watkins has the best chance of the opening half, as the hosts stand firm at the back#AVLMCI https://t.co/2cv2crPk4s The game burst into action in the second period as both sides took a more offensive approach and space opened up. However, Manchester City struck first. De Bruyne provided a classy assist for Haaland to score from just five minutes after the restart. It was his 10th goal in just six league appearances. Despite conceding, Aston Villa refused to back down and continued playing good football. The hosts were rewarded for their persistence despite chasing the game for most of the time. They scored against the run of play as Jacob Ramsey played a sweet pass into Leon Bailey's path, who scored with a perfectly-timed shot to make it 1-1. Manchester City had a couple of chances late on as Rodri came close to firing them ahead. Despite the second half ending with a flurry of chances for either side, neither were able to snatch the win as Aston Villa held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw. That said, let's take a look at the five major talking points from the game.

#5 Aston Villa have the personnel to be in the top half of the Premier League table

Aston Villa are one of the lucky sides in the Premier League that have a blend of homegrown talent and players from abroad. Players like Tyrone Mings and Jacob Ramsey have come through the ranks at the academy and know what it means to represent the club. In addition, they have Leon Bailey and Philippe Coutinho, two players who have showcased their talents in some of Europe's top leagues. Captain John McGinn is a regular in the Scotland national team and his midfield partners Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara are experienced players as well. Their manager, Steven Gerrard, is a legend of the game and knows how to build a squad that plays as a unit. However, his team have been unable to display consistency and quality at the same time. It will be interesting to see how much time the club's owners give Gerrard.

#4 Kevin De Bruyne is the heartbeat of this Manchester City side

Kevin De Bruyne has been Pep Guardiola's main offensive weapon since the Spaniard took over in 2016. His ability to spot a run and pick a man out is second to none in the Premier League. Despite operating in deeper areas as his career progressed, De Bruyne has been able to win games for Manchester City single-handedly. The Belgian passed the ball with 79% accuracy, including six key passes, four long balls and two crosses. He created two big chances for City, one of which was an assist for Erling Haaland to score from. He also hit the woodwork once. De Bruyne also won four of his seven duels in a commanding display. However, credit goes to Aston Villa, who refused to let the champions snatch a late victory.

#3 Age is catching up to Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker is now 32 years of age and has been a mainstay in Manchester City's first team for the better part of a decade now. Although he still has a few years left in him, his ability to make explosive runs and track back has diminished consistently. Walker was a key member of the upcoming Tottenham Hotspur side in the early 2010s, known for his explosive sprints and tank-like build. Due to his role, the number of sprints he makes per game is one of the highest on the pitch. He continues to put in the same effort as he always did, but his ability to recover has suffered. This has taken a toll on him, with no real backup option available as Joao Cancelo has predominantly featured on the left.

#2 Aston Villa manage to score goals out of nothing

Aston Villa have created very few clear-cut chances this season barring their win against Everton. Incidentally, it remains their only win of the campaign so far. In their last game against Arsenal, midfielder Douglas Luiz produced a moment of pure brilliance. He scored directly from a corner-kick to send the traveling Villa fans into raptures right behind him. AFC Dynasty@Gooner_DynastyHis goal against us wasn’t a fluke, Douglas Luiz is a corner kick specialist.15025His goal against us wasn’t a fluke, Douglas Luiz is a corner kick specialist. https://t.co/xZMNyaEAEY In the game against Manchester City as well, Villa scored from a chance that was afforded to them as a result of shoddy defending from the visitors. However, they took that opportunity and ended up scoring with their first shot on target, which came after 74 minutes.

#1 Erling Haaland

No, the sub-heading is not incomplete. Erling Haaland is simply phenomenal. He set a record for being the most goals scored after five games following his hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in City's previous game. He added to that tally to make it 10 for the season in just six games played. For both of his hat-tricks so far, Haaland had just 16 touches in both those games. It shows his ability to create a goal for himself once the ball is played into the his feet in the box. At times when Manchester City have struggled to dominate possession, Guardiola has remained adamant that Haaland will take up a position higher up the pitch and stick to their gameplan. He is currently 22 goals away from Mohamed Salah's league record of 32 goals in a season, with 32 games still to be played. Poll : 0 votes Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Edited by Arnav Kholkar × Feedback Thank You! Be the first one to comment Follow Us Share Show More Comments GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout No Results Found Get the free App now Manage notifications Popular ‍ Sports (30+) CricketCricket HomeScheduleT20 World CupT20 warm upIND vs SAENG vs PAKAUS vs ENGLegends LeagueECS T10 CroatiaWBBL 2022ECC T10SMAT 2022Bukhatir LeagueNZ T20 Tri-SeriesWomen's Asia Cup 2022ECT10 FootballFootball HomeNewslettersSK Experts ScheduleEPLNations LeagueLa LigaLigue 1Champions LeagueFIFA WCMLS Bundesliga Serie A WWEWWE HomeNewslettersRumor RoundupRAWSmackDownResultsRosterChampionsWWE Crown Jewel 2022PPV ScheduleAEW EsportsEsports HomeMinecraftOverwatch 2RobloxGenshin ImpactFortniteGTAStreamersFree FirePUBGValorantBGMIPop CultureAnimeGaming TechWiki Guides TennisTennis HomeTennis calendarTennis Results TodayATP RankingsWTA RankingsRoger FedererRafael NadalNovak DjokovicSerena Williams MMAMMA HomeUFC NewsONE ChampionshipUFC Fight NightScheduleRankingsResultsUFC Fights TonightONE Championship ResultsONE Championship ScheduleONE Championship Rankings KabaddiKabaddi HomePKL 2022PKL SchedulePKL Points TableKabaddi Rules WikiWiki HomeMinecraft WikiNaruto WikiTikTok WikiYoutube WikiGTA WikiTerraria WikiOne Piece Wiki MoreSportsBasketballIndian FootballNFLMinecraftFormula 1NascarPop CultureCollege FootballHockeyGolfAthleticsBadmintonGymnasticsWrestlingSwimmingTennisShootingBoxingArcheryWinter SportsRobloxFree PicksSkateboardingKho KhoLifestyle LINKS About Us Write For Us Policies Editorial Standards Journalism Awards Fact Check Affiliate Program Careers CSR Privacy Policy Contact Us Edition: English हिन्दी