Premier League leaders Manchester City travelled to Villa Park to face Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, as they were keen to extend their lead on top of the points table. Manager Manuel Pellegrini was hoping that his side could pick up a win and go three points clear of north London side Arsenal. However, things did work out for City, as Villa had other plans under the management of new boss Remi Garde and put up a resilient performance. The visitors had many chances to score right through the match, yet failed to capitalize on them. It was not a boring match and both sides fought till the very end. City had the better chances in front of goal, with Sterling and De Bruyne getting a clear goal scoring opportunities. The duo might have surely scored on any other night though a little credit should be given to Guzan who kept them out till the very end. A 0-0 draw was not the best result that the former champions of England were hoping for.
Player Ratings:
Joe Hart: 3/5
A good save to deny Bacuna in the second half though was not really tested in the game apart from that.
Bacary Sagna: 4/5
Did a superb job on the night on the flanks, as he put in some great balls for De Bruyne and Navas. Really good to watch him play on the right though there were no goals produced by the game eventually.
Vincent Kompany: 3.5/5
Put in an important challenge to prevent a pass from Gueye from reaching Ayew to prevent a quick counter attack.
Nicolas Otamendi: 3.5/5
Another defender who put in a good solid performance to deny Villa any clear opportunities to score in the match.
Aleksandar Kolarov: 3.5/5
Stopped the movement of Gil with a good challenge and the chance to break forward and Guzan nearly gifted him a goal, as his shot was spilled from a well-hit free-kick.
Fernando: 3.5/5
Hit the crossbar in the dying moments of the game and could have made all the difference, if it just had gone in. However, he was quite good in his main midfield role right through.
Fernandinho: 3/5
Some good passes to keep the game flowing and nearly scored as well after Fernando’s chance hit the crossbar and he got in a shot, which went wide.
Yaya Toure: 3/5
Was denied the pleasure of moving around freely with the ball at his feet and couldn’t really dominate proceedings as Villa were too good before he was finally taken off.
Kevin De Bruyne: 4/5
A lot of great crosses put in by the Belgian international for his team-mates including the likes of Sterling and should have scored himself as well.
Wilfred Bony: 2.5/5
Went off before the hour mark with an injury, as Navas replaced him and was better than him.
Raheem Sterling: 3.5/5
Should have really scored with the chances that he got. Plenty of opportunities to leave his mark on the game, but looked hesitant. Took some rather tame shots at goal and though he was quite effective, lacked the finishing touch.
Substitutes:
Jesus Navas: 3.5/5
Troubled Amavi quite a few times and set up Sterling’s headed effort, which should have surely been a goal. Could have done a lot more, though Clark was in superb form and denied him the space.
Fabian Delph: 2.5/5
No real impact in the game, though he was always part of the action as City pushed for a goal till the end.
Kelechi Iheanacho: N/A
Put in the cross which Fernando hit the crossbar with, but did not have too much time to make a real impact.