Manchester City draws with Aston Villa 1-1 – Recap and Video Highlights – Monday, October 5, 2009
There was one midweek English Premier League match as Aston Villa hosted Manchester City. Both teams are looking to break into the top 4 and earn a UEFA Champions League spot. Here’s a recap and video highlights of the match from Monday, October 5, 2009.
Manchester City draws with Aston Villa 1-1 – Video Highlights
1st Half
Aston Villa had a good first five minutes as they had most of the early possession and chances. Neither team had a great chance early and it began to even out in the first half after the first few minutes. Stiliyan Petrov had a decent shot that just went wide around the 11th minute as Villa continued to have the edge.
Villa’s good start would payoff in the 15th minute as they would take the lead. A corner kick was sent in the box by Stephen Warnock was headed past Man City goalkeeper Shay Given by Richard Dunne. It was poor defending from City and great header from Dunne. After the goal, Villa continued to get chances and exploit the City defense. City slowly picked up their play as the first half winded down but lacked the finish in the final third.
The first real great chance for City came in the 41st minute as Emmanuel Adebayor hit a header on goal that Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel saved. City started to control possession the last 10-15 minutes of the 1st half. Villa played defensively during this time trying to hold onto their lead. Villa would have one chance as Milner nearly capitalized on a defensive mistake but the City defense recovered. The first half ended at 1-0 for Aston Villa.
2nd Half
It was an open match in the 1st half and the start of the 2nd half continued that style of play. Milner had a shot on goal for Villa in the 50th minute but it went wide. City was still very much in the match and Shaun Wright-Phillips nearly scored off a great through ball but he wasn’t able to get a shot off before the defense could clear.
With both teams getting chances, another goal seemed very likely. Milner nearly scored on a header off a corner but it just went wide in the 59th minute. City defending the set pieces very poorly. After almost conceding another goal, Man City responded with good pressure on the Villa defense.
Manchester City would find the back of the net in the 68th minute with a goal from Craig Bellamy. Adebayor ran onto a pass into the box and passed it to Bellamy who hit a great shot to beat the goalkeeper. As it entered the last 20 minutes of the match, City looked like the side able to produce one goal for the victory if it wouldn’t end in a draw.
It wasn’t a one sided match but City was clearly more dangerous in the attack late in the 2nd half. A major reason for City’s improvement from the 1st half was the substitution of Stephen Ireland. Neither goalkeeper was tested very often or had to make any great saves to keep it 1-1. It would end in a 1-1 draw on goals from Dunne and Bellamy.
| MATCH STATS | ||
| Aston Villa | Manchester City | |
| Shots (on Goal) | 12(1) | 12(4) |
| Fouls | 12 | 9 |
| Corner Kicks | 6 | 6 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 |
| Time of Possession | 43% | 57% |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Saves | 3 | 0 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | |
| Aston Villa | Manchester City |
| Richard Dunne (15) | Craig Bellamy (67) |
