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

Villa will be difficult - Pep

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 vs Man City

• 74’ GOAL! Leon Bailey draws Aston Villa level
• 50’ GOAL! Erling Haaland opens the scoring with his 10th goal of the season
• 5’ CHANCE! Walker in on goal and blazes high and wide with Haaland waiting for a tap-in, 0-0
• Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Ramsey, Watkins, Bailey
• Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Haaland

[3 September 2022 18:46 · Michael Jones]

Aston Villa 0-1 Man City

59 mins: Brilliant from Ederson! Jacob Ramsey recovers the ball for Villa and kicks off a great counter-attack. Ollie Watkins receives the ball and holds it up just enough to draw in the City defenders.

Ramsey runs into space on the left and Watkins slides the ball across to him. His first touch is heavy which allows Ederson to fly off his line and dives onto the ball but Ramsey can shoot.

The ball comes loose and John Stones works it away.

[3 September 2022 18:44 · Michael Jones]

Aston Villa 0-1 Man City

56 mins: John Stones has to put the burners on after Martinez punts the ball up the pitch for Watkins. He gets to the ball first running back towards his own goal then gets a nudge from the Villa striker and goes down winning City a free kick.

[3 September 2022 18:42 · Michael Jones]

Aston Villa 0-1 Man City

53 mins: That could be a killer goal for Aston Villa. It was a perfect delivery from De Bruyne and expert movement from Haaland to get into position inside the six-yard box.

City are more relaxed when they have a lead which allows them more freedom to play.

[3 September 2022 18:37 · Michael Jones]

GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Man City (50’, Haaland)⚽️

50 mins: He is inevitable. Bernardo Silva receives the ball on the right wing and lays it off to Kevin De Bruyne who makes an underlapping run over to the right side of the penalty area.

De Bruyne lifts his cross over the outstretched arm of Emi Martinez to pick out Erling Haaland at the back post where the striker taps it home.

[3 September 2022 18:36 · Michael Jones]

Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

48 mins: Douglas Luiz gets from on the right side of the pitch and takes the ball to the byline before hooking an attempted cross straight out of play.

How long will it be before Steven Gerrard starts to think about changing things up?

[3 September 2022 18:34 · Michael Jones]

Second half: Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

Kick off: Manchester City get the match back underway. There are no changes from either side at the break. City have scored a number of second half goals so far in this campaign and will need to do so again if they want to finish the day ahead of Arsenal.

For Aston Villa’s part it’s more of the same. Can the home side keep City quiet for another 45 minutes?

[3 September 2022 18:27 · Michael Jones]

HT Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

(Getty Images)

(Manchester City FC via Getty Ima)

(Getty Images)

[3 September 2022 18:22 · Michael Jones]

HT Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

Before kick off today, Erling Haaland had scored nine Premier League goals from just 105 touches so far, scoring one goal for every 12 touches.

This is the fewest touches per goal by a player in a Premier League season (3+ goals) on record since 2003/04

[3 September 2022 18:17 · Michael Jones]

Half-time: Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

45+2 mins: Goalless at Villa Park. Manchester City haven’t been their slick, clinical and fluid selves but that’s down to Aston Villa’s persistence to keep them off the ball in the centre of the pitch.

The home side have had a few moments of excitement but for the main part they’ve focused on keeping City quiet. So far it’s working.

[3 September 2022 18:16 · Jack Rathborn]

Aston Villa 0-0 Man City

(REUTERS)

(Action Images via Reuters)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola, left, and Aston Villa's head coach Steven Gerrard (AP)