Premier League: Aston Villa start Garde era with City draw

Manchester City’s Bacary Sagna (left) vies for the ball with Jordan Ayew of Aston Villa in their English Premier League match at Villa Park in Birmingham on Sunday. The match ended 0-0. — AFP

Manchester City’s shortage of recognised strikers was glaringly exposed in a goalless draw away to bottom club Aston Villa on Sunday that saw them squander the chance to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League.

Manuel Pellegrini lost the services of Wilfried Bony to a hamstring injury and then watched in frustration as City failed to make their second-half domination count in a match where Villa ended a dismal run of seven successive defeats.

City had to operate without a recognised frontman for more than an hour, although Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and Fernando all wasted gilt-edged chances to wrap up all three points in the closing stages.

It meant that Frenchman Remi Garde claimed a valuable point in his first game as Villa manager to stop the rot which led to his appointment as the successor to Tim Sherwood, although a draw still left the Birmingham club at the foot of the table.

City were left ruing the missed chances, and the continued absence of Sergio Aguero, as they had to settle for a draw in a game they were expected to win comfortably. The return of former City defender Micah Richards was one of six changes made by Garde to Villa’s starting side from the team beaten at Tottenham Hotspur six days earlier.

As expected from a team under new management, Villa began the contest with great vigour and purpose, but the first real threat came when City’s Aleksandar Kolarov was released by Sterling on the overlap and his cross flashed across the face of goal.

Nevertheless, there was encouragement for the home fans at Villa Park in the way their side started the game with Jordan Amavi getting forward at every opportunity, but Idrissa Gueye failed to trouble Joe Hart with a long-range shot after a burst from the centre of midfield.

City went close to breaking the deadlock on two occasions in quick succession as Kolarov saw his low shot pushed onto the post by Brad Guzan before Fernando lashed a close range effort over the bar from the resulting corner.

But just as Pellegrini’s side seemed to be building up a head of steam, they suffered the setback of losing Bony to injury as he pulled up clutching his hamstring

Following their reshuffle, City had a chance to catch Villa on the break, but although Yaya Toure’s instinctive pass sent Sterling bursting through the middle, the England winger stumbled inside the box at the crucial moment and subsequent protests he had been fouled by the backtracking Ciaran Clark were ignored by the referee.

There was a let-off for Villa early in the second half when Guzan fumbled the greasy ball when Kolarov tried his luck from a free kick, but fortunately for the home side, they were able to scramble the ball away before Sterling could capitalise on it.

Guzan then pulled off an astonishing point-blank save to prevent what seemed an inevitable City opener when Sterling rose to meet Jesus Navas’s cross with a firm header, though he didn’t know much about his block.