Aston Villa verdict given by Erling Haaland after Manchester City draw
Aston Villa surprised many on Saturday evening by holding Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in front of a packed Villa Park.
Erling Haaland had given the Citizens the lead in the first half but they were unable to run away with the game as they had done in previous games this season and Villa equalised through Leon Bailey in the second half.
The Norwegian monster, who had scored back-to-back hat-tricks before the champions’ visit to the Midlands, was impressed with the fight on display from Steven Gerrard’s side and reacted as such on Twitter.
“Tough game today, we switch to Champions League mode now,” the 21-year-old said via his personal Twitter account hours after the final whistle had blown.
Gerrard’s side have a wonderful chance to pick up their second win of the season and first points on the road next weekend when they head to rock bottom Leicester City who have just shipped five to Graham Potter’s Brighton.
Bottle
Aston Villa needed to show some kind of reaction having been far from where they should have been so far this season and boy did they turn up when the big boys came to town.
It might not be a victory as Gerrard will have been dreaming about the night before but a point against Guardiola’s all-conquering machine is not to be snuffed at whatsoever.
That level of performance and fight has to now be the standard to which they hold themselves for every single game regardless of the opponent in the opposite dressing room.
Even the poor start to the season hasn’t left Villa adrift of everyone else thanks to those crucial three points at home to Everton but Gerrard will know that the world’s eyes are on him and the pressure will be a big test of his bottle.
Every substitute and tactical tweak will be excruciatingly analysed and any slight hiccup will cause mass questioning so his players must not allow his decisions to be the main talking point at any stage.
In other Aston Villa news, £30million worth of shares have been pumped into the club to ensure any debts can be cleared heading into the meat of the season.