Aston Villa frustrate Manchester City as Rémi Garde makes instant impact
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Man City Manchester City players look dejected after Fabian Delph misses a chance on his return to Aston Villa.
The Rémi Garde era is up and running and, at the very least, some hope has returned to these parts after Aston Villa produced a performance full of endeavour and spirit to end a run of seven successive defeats and frustrate the league leaders. Villa remain anchored to the bottom of the table but there were some positive signs for the home supporters to cling to on an afternoon when Manchester City paid a high price for their profligacy.
Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
Rémi Garde’s first game in charge of Villa saw an organised, focused and confident display, earning a point against a City side who took a half to get going and then missed the chances that they created
Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne were guilty of squandering excellent opportunities early in the second half, with both players unmarked in the six-yard box, and the sense that this was not going to be City’s day was confirmed in injury-time when Fernando’s thumping header from the substitute Kelechi Iheanacho’s cross cannoned off the bar.
There was still time for a few frantic goalmouth skirmishes, with Villa desperately hanging on during a chaotic finale in which City laid siege to their opponent’s goal, but through a mixture of good fortune and resilient defending Garde’s team survived to collect only their second point since winning at Bournemouth on the opening day.
For City it was a case of what might have been. The loss of Wilfried Bony, who limped off with a hamstring injury in the first half, forced a reshuffle but City should still have had more than enough attacking talent on the pitch to take the game away from Villa.
Manuel Pellegrini left it up to others to decide whether it was a case of bad luck or poor finishing that had cost City victory and refused to criticise De Bruyne for over-complicating what appeared to be a simple chance. The Belgian, trying to backheel an inviting centre from Jesús Navas, inadvertently kicked the ball against his other leg and the home fans breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Those are decisions that the player has to make in one second,” the City manager said. “It is difficult to try and tell him to do it another way. Maybe if he had scored that goal we would be applauding him.”
Pellegrini made the point, with some justification, that City’s chances extended beyond the opportunities that Fernando, De Bruyne and Sterling wasted, and the Chilean also highlighted the fact that Villa, for all their commitment, failed to register a shot on goal in the entire 90 minutes.
While Bony now faces a spell on the sidelines, Pellegrini offered some better news about Sergio Agüero, whom he suggested could return to feature against Liverpool on Saturday week. “I hope that this week he, [David] Silva, [Samir] Nasri and [Pablo] Zabaleta, will work with the physiotherapist and next Monday they will start working with the squad. We will see in the way [Agüero] improves but I think there is a chance he can be [fit for Liverpool].”
For Garde, the absence of a cutting edge is arguably his biggest problem, yet this was not the day to bemoan their toothless attack. With confidence so low and the league leaders in town, Villa were entitled to cherish the fact that they had stopped the rot.
Garde has wasted no time in making his mark on the team and it came as no surprise that the Frenchman restored all four signings from Ligue 1 – Jordan Ayew, Jordan Amavi, Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gueye – to the starting XI. Not so expected was the sight of Charles N’Zogbia among the substitutes, with the Frenchman coming on to make his first appearance since the FA Cup final.
A little flat in the first half, City dominated after the interval and but for an almost comical save from Brad Guzan would have taken the lead in the 54th minute, when Sterling, who was only four yards out, met Navas’s perfect cross with a powerful header that hit the Villa goalkeeper on the head.
De Bruyne then made a pig’s ear of his gilt-edged opening after Navas had once again exposed Amavi’s defensive limitations – the 21-year-old looks much better with the ball than he does without it – and by the time Fabian Delph came on in the 78th minute, to a chorus of boos and abuse, City’s search for a goal had become increasingly desperate.
It was another substitute, Rudy Gestede, who threatened to cause havoc. After City had kicked the ball out to allow N’Zogbia to receive treatment, Gestede took the throw-in and returned it to Joe Hart at some pace. City’s goalkeeper was unable to control the ball and conceded a corner from which Gestede, of all people, swept a first-time left-foot shot that skimmed the roof of the net.
Man of the match Jesús Navas (Manchester City)
Guardian