Villa denied possible winner against Man City as officials admit they got it wrong
NET GAINS: Man City's Erling Haaland pounces at the back post for his side's opener at Villa Park.
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard revealed the officials admitted they made a mistake in not allowing his side a second goal after they came back to earn a point against champions Manchester City.
Erling Haalandâs 10th goal in six games looked like handing City a fifth win in six this season but they were pegged back by Leon Baileyâs 74th-minute equaliser.Â
After that, substitute Philippe Coutinhoâs shot went in off the underside of the crossbar. But a linesman had flagged the Brazilian offside in the build-up, causing the referee to blow his whistle to pause the game. Replays showed the linesmanâs decision was incorrect.
âThat moment and the decision went against us, but I spoke to the officials calmly in the room after the game, and fair play to the officials, they recognised that,â said Gerrard. âI gave enough time and asked for their side of it. I always try to understand their side of it, but the referee blew the whistle too soon.
âThey recognised they were too quick on the whistle.
âI know thereâs a slight rule change in not waiting too long for these whistles and flags.
âBut I think when something is so tight, itâs worth that extra bit of time, and we could have scored a second goal, for sure.
âI think itâs creeping more into the officials now where theyâre being more open and understanding in that they have to give us a reason.âÂ
Gerrard praised his players for their commitment after few gave them any chance of a point before the game.
âThe players stuck at it. I donât think anyone gave us any hope or a chance before a ball was kicked today,â he said.
âSo it was important we had belief inside the dressing room and courage because you need both sides of the game against Man City â outside of possession and in possession.
âI am really pleased and proud of what the players gave and I donât think anyone can begrudge us that point and itâs a big point.
City manager Pep Guardiola admitted his side could have run away with it if they had converted their chances.
Haaland and Kevin Bruyne were denied, while the latter hit the bar with a free kick.
âI was frustrated a bit in the first half. We created chances and arrived in the final third in possession with Kyle (Walker) and a few from Phil (Foden),â he said.
âBut in the last part we were not precise and our crossing was not good.
âWe didnât play badly and we didnât concede much in the 90 minutes.
âWe had to break the line to score a goal. We had a bad moment when the game was out of our control because we won a lot of balls against (Ollie) Watkins.
âLast season we struggled a lot in this. One action against Villa we defended poorly from the second ball and they scored a good goal.âÂ
Regarding Haalandâs incredible start â the Norwegian missed becoming the first player in English football to score hat-tricks in three successive league games â Guardiola admitted the striker could have had more goals.
âHe was involved in the game and he scored a goal. He had a good assist from Kevin and he was there, as always,â added the City boss.
âHe had the chance to score another one. He was clear, there were two actions with a free kick and a one-on-one against Emiliano.
âThere were enough chances to score but this happens in football.â
(4-3-3): MartĂnez 7; Cash 6 (Young 27 minutes, 6), Konsa 7, Mings 8, Digne 7; Douglas Luiz 7, Kamara 6, McGinn © 6 (Coutinho 65 minutes, 6); Bailey 7 (BuendĂa 90+1 minutes, 6), Watkins 8, J Ramsey 8.
: Ings, Chambers, Augustinsson, Bednarek, Olsen, Archer.
(4-2-3-1): Ederson 6; Walker 6 (AkĂ© 80 minutes, 6), Stones 6, RĂșben Dias 6, Cancelo 6; Rodri 6, GĂŒndogan 6 ©; Bernardo Silva 6 (Mahrez 73 minutes, 6), De Bruyne 8, Foden 6, Haaland 8.
Grealish, Ortega, Ălvarez, GĂłmez, Palmer, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand.
: Simon Hooper 7/10
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