PEP’S LEON Gerrard saviour Bailey steals STINGER limelight from Haaland
ERLING HAALAND didn’t take home the match ball last night – and Leon Bailey ensured he didn’t earn three points either.
The Norwegian striker failed to make it three hat-tricks inside one week but still made what he thought was a decisive contribution.
Only Bailey ruined his – and Pep Guardiola’s – day out in Brum.
Yes, after sticking the ball in the old onion bag six times against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, the footballing world wondered if the £51million man could make it three on the spin at
Villa Park. Well, he couldn’t as home keeper Emi Martinez proved his equal on all but one occasion.
And that 50th-minute closerange goal from a delicious Kevin de Bruyne cross had appeared to be the defining moment, helping Guardiola’s men to leapfrog Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table.
Only for Villa’s Jamaica international to relieve some of the pressure that had been growing on boss Steven Gerrard. Bailey, who has showed tantalising glimpses of talent after his first season at Villa that was ruined by injury, stepped up when he was desperately needed.
After touching the ball a measly six times during a first half in which he spent most of his time running around fruitlessly, he came up trumps to earn Gerrard a much-needed point.
There didn’t appear to be too much for Manchester City’s defence to worry about when Jacob Ramsey picked up possession 30 yards out on the left-hand side of the box. But the
England Under-21s international drove towards the penalty area and his pull-back was met by the left foot of the £25m capture from Bayer Leverkusen.
It fizzed past a startled Ederson to spark wild scenes of celebration among the home crowd who had turned up fearing the worst.
The hosts played like it in the opening half too.
The first half-hour was a training ground exercise – using half the pitch. The portion that Villa were defending.
It seemed a matter of when rather than if City would open the
scoring but Villa grew into the match, closing off the passing lanes to De Bruyne and Haaland in particular.
It stifled the visitors but they really should have taken a lead when they were markedly on top.
Kyle Walker lashed a shot into the Holte End when his Scandinavian team-mate was better placed for a tap-in.
De Bruyne let fly with one of those trademark left-footed drives that whistled past Martinez’s right-hand post and then the Belgian showed another side to his game, finding Ilkay Gundogan with a 50-yard pass that he almost dropped onto his team-mate’s toe. But that was about it. As the interval approached, Villa did pose problems of their own.
Substitute Ashley Young – an early entrant after a suspected hamstring injury to Matty Cash – won a foot race with De Bruyne and robbed the ball off him.
It set in motion an attack that ended with Ollie Watkins firing a shot goalwards which was deflected behind for a corner.
In itself, no big deal. But it gave Villa belief that their tactics had given them a foothold in the game. They were wrong.
Shortly after the break, De
Bruyne escaped down the right and lifted a wonderful cross to the far post. Martinez couldn’t quite touch it and Haaland, who has now scored in 10 in six, sidefooted a volley into the empty net.
That seemed to be that until Bailey’s intervention. It certainly woke up a crowd that had been forced to watch large chunks of the 90 minutes in frustration as the champs played keep-ball.
But in the final quarter-hour Villa were again indebted to Martinez as he again came to his side’s rescue and Riyad Mahrez blazed wide.