Aston Villa vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight after Leon Bailey earns draw
Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City: Leon Bailey responded after Erling Haaland’s opener to deny the champions
Another goal from Erling Haaland wasn’t enough for Manchester City this time as Leon Bailey’s second-half equalizer salvaged a 1-1 draw for Aston Villa against the defending champion in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Haaland took his tally to 10 goals from six games by volleying in a cross from Kevin de Bruyne in the 50th minute but then missed two chances to score a second before Villa struck back.
Bailey met a low cross from Jacob Ramsey and hammered a first-time shot high into the net in the 74th to rescue a valuable point for Villa, whose manager Steven Gerrard was under heavy pressure after three straight league losses.
For City, it’s a second draw to go with four wins in the opening six games, leaving it tied for second place with Tottenham on points. Leader Arsenal has a chance to go four points clear on Sunday if it can maintain its perfect record when it travels to Manchester United.
Pep Guardiola’s City has made a habit of going two goals down before rallying, but this time it was their turn to relinquish the lead.
Haaland had been quiet in the first half but showed his predatory instincts when he came flying in at the far post to meet a pinpoint cross from De Bruyne, jumping high to side-foot the ball in.
The towering Norway striker forced two good saves from Emiliano Martinez as City pushed for a second goal.
That left the visitors open to counterattacks, though, and Ramsey had already squandered one such opportunity with a heavy touch by the time he set up Bailey for the equalizer.
Midfielder Rodri came closest to a winner for City when his shot from outside the area crept narrowly wide in the 87th.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
17 mins: Lucas Digne floats a free kick into the box for Aston Villa and picks out Tyrone Mings who heads the ball back across goal. Ollie Watkins is around but the ball falls to Gundogan and City boot it clear.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
14 mins: Chance! Huge opportunity for Man City. Kevin De Bruyne drifts out to the right wing and receives the ball before whipping an incredible cross into the box.
Ilkay Gundogan spilts the Villa centre-backs, lunges at the ball and just misses it. A touch from the midfielder there and it’s a goal.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
11 mins: Nice work from Bernardo Silva to shift the ball away from Tyrone Mings and lay it off to Rodri. He flicks a pass over to Phil Foden on the left side of the box but Foden handles the ball.
It bounces to Matty Cash who plays it away from the box and the referee lets play go on as Aston Villa regain possession.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
8 mins: Gundogan makes a run into the box and Kevin De Bruyne attempts to pick him out with a cross field pass from the right-back position.
It’s a decent ball but too far away from the midfielder who can’t reach it as it lands inside the box. Emi Martinez watches it safely out of play.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
5 mins: There it is! The ball comes to Erling Haaland who has his back to goal. He knocks it back to Ilkay Gundogan who rolls the ball into the right side of the box to meet Kyle Walker’s run.
Haaland’s spun off his marker and made it into the six-yard box waiting for the pass but Walker goes for goal and blasts it over the top.
Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
3 mins: It’s been a slow start from both teams. Aston Villa have been unable to play through Man City with the visitors patiently waiting for their opportunity to strike.
Kick off: Aston Villa 0-0 Man City
Villa get the ball rolling in this final Premier League match of the day.
Aston Villa took a two-goal lead against Man City on the last day of the 2021/22 season to send shivers down the spines of the City fans. Pep Guardiola’s men came back though and beat them 3-2 to win the Premier League by a point.
Can Villa start quickly again today?
Aston Villa vs Man City
Here come the teams. John McGinn leads out a very defensively looking Aston Villa. They’ll have a lot of questions to answer today but the main one is how to deal with Erling Haaland?
Kick off is up next...
Back-to-back bid feels better than ever for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are in a better place to win a third straight Premier League than the previous time they won back-to-back titles.
The Etihad Stadium side have been the dominant side in English football since the Catalan took over, with a third-placed finish in his first season followed by four league crowns in five seasons.
Liverpool are the only side to have won the title during that time, with Jurgen Klopp’s men finishing 18 points ahead of second-placed City in 2019-20.
There was a stark early drop-off after winning the league in 2017-18 and 2018-19, with Guardiola confident they are in a better headspace to go for three in a row now.
Back-to-back bid feels better than ever for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
The Etihad Stadium side have been the dominant side in English football since Guardiola took over
Haaland on verge of goalscoring record
Erling Haaland has scored nine goals in five Premier League appearances.
The player to have reached 10 Premier League goals in the fewest appearances is Mick Quinn, who did so in six games for Coventry in 1992.
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