Manchester City dropped points for the second time this season, having to settle for a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
Despite Villa's poor form, Steven Gerrard's side successfully frustrated the reigning Premier League Champions.
After a mundane opening 45 minutes, during which Manchester City failed to register an attempt on target at Villa Park, the Sky Blues improved in the second-half.
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Kyle Walker squandered City's best chance of the first-half, opting to shoot instead of cross the ball to Erling Haaland in the box early on.
Early in the second-half, Haaland scored his 10th Premier League goal, getting on the end of Kevin De Bruyne's incredible cross, as City broke the deadlock.
However, Leon Bailey fired Villa level in the 74th minute, as City dropped points away from home for the second match running.
Here’s how we rated the players from City's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday night.
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Starting XI:
Ederson - 6.5
Made a pivotal save on the hour mark, smothering the ball to prevent Aston Villa from a certain goal and was assured. as ever, on the ball.
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Kyle Walker - 5
Another somewhat lacklustre performance from the Englishman. Despite having wrongly opted to shoot instead of cross the ball in the opening five minutes, Walker defended competently and made numerous bursts forward.
Ruben Dias - 5.5
A confident defensive performance alongside John Stones, with the pair seemingly showing signs of rekindling their famous centre-back partnership from the 2021/22 campaign.
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John Stones - 6
Stones made a brilliant sliding challenge to prevent Ollie Watkins late in the first-half, and was once again impressive in possession and when defending.
Joao Cancelo - 5
A slightly underwhelming performance from the full-back, who had numerous loose passes and touches during the course of the 90 minutes.
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Rodri - 5.5
Metronomic on the ball, but saw Villa capitalise on his loose pass in the build-up to Leon Bailey's goal.
Kevin De Bruyne - 7.5 (MOTM)
Once again the Blues' standout player, playing an influential role.
As well assisting Haaland's goal with a sublime cross, came close to scoring on three occasions and linked up brilliantly with City's front three.
Ilkay Gundogan - 5.5
The City captain was another slightly underwhelming performer, struggling to effect the game.
Bernardo Silva - 6
Not the Portuguese stars most memorable performance, but effective and exciting out wide once again.
Phil Foden - 6
A challenging evening for Foden, who found himself to be isolated out wide at times and struggled to really impact the match.
Erling Haaland - 7
Continued his deadly impact in-front of goal, scoring at the far post. The Norwegian was significantly better in the second-half, forcing Martinez into numerous saves.
Substitutes:
Riyad Mahrez - 5.5
Squandered a brilliant chance in the 88th minute and failed to really effect the game from the bench.
Nathan Ake - N/A
Topics: Manchester City, Aston Villa, Premier League
Harry Winters