The starting list, Villa has not changed much, they have a thin lineup, and there are only a limited number of personnel who can rotate.

As for Manchester City, Sergio Aguero missed the game after suffering a knee injury in pre-match training, and it was Carlos Tevez who replaced him.

After the opening of the game, both sides were very cautious, and they even played a steady counterattack tactic.

The scene was a bit dreary.

In the first 20 minutes, neither side had an absolute chance to score, not even a shot on target.

Live chat room.

"Although Mancini brought the first Premier League championship to our city, let's get out of class, obviously it is the configuration of the aircraft carrier, and he drove it into a bus." Fans who can watch this game at 4 p.m. are definitely true fans.

"Agreed, highly recommend poaching Pep Guardiola from Barcelona."

"Think beautifully, although the lineup of Mud City is good, but it still can't get into the eyes of Gua Bald, and when Messi and Xiaobai are gone, even if Gua Bald wants to leave Barcelona, he will only go to Bayern instead of Mud City."

...

Back to the game.

In the slightly dreary time, the game was already in the 21st minute and Villa had a great chance.

N'Zogbia took a corner and Benteke headed it in from 11 yards out in the box.

Benteke's header had already gone past Joe Hart and was about to cross the goal, when suddenly, a lightning figure arrived and blocked the ball on the goal line.

Could it be that Joe Hart also has a cheat?

Apparently not.

There was someone else who came to the rescue.

When everyone saw it clearly, they found out that it was Manchester City's starting striker Carlos Tevez.

As a striker, doing the work of a defender, I wonder if Manchester City will increase the bonus for Tevez?

…

Villa missed the chance to take the lead and instead woke up City.

A minute later, City launched a counter-attack when David Silva passed the ball and pinpointedly tore through Villa's defence and sent the ball into the Villa box.

From 12 yards in the box, Rodwell received a pass from David Silva and stopped the ball with his left foot and fired a powerful shot with his right foot, and the whole process was extremely fluid.

The ball flies straight into the near corner of the goal.

Thankfully, Jose had anticipated the ball, and as soon as Silva passed the ball, he noticed Rodwell quietly running into the box.

So, just a "hungry wolf pounced", Jose grabbed Rodwell's shot firmly in his hands.

The sad Rodwell not only failed to score, but also went off injured in the 25th minute, and it was Dzeko who replaced him.

City then went on to attack on their own initiative.

Villa, on the other hand, will struggle to find any more dangerous shots.

Although the two sides had almost the same amount of time on the ball, Villa's possession of the ball could only roam around the perimeter, and the occasional long-range shot was also far apart.

Joe Hart seemed to be falling asleep again.

Half-time stoppage time.

Nathan Baker wins the ball outside his own box.

Dzeko, who came on as a substitute, suddenly flew to pounce, and as a striker, he snatched the ball from Baker's feet.

After conceding the goal, Baker chased back as soon as possible.

However, Dzeko was very clever and did not choose to continue to get the ball, but first passed to Tevez on the other side.

Tevez took the ball and forced a breakthrough, first past Beck, who was chasing back, and then still wanted to pass Jose when he was single-handed.

Just as Tevez was about to rush past Jose with the ball, Jose used the first stunt of the game.

In fact, even if Jose doesn't use stunts, he is fifty percent sure that he will snatch the ball from Tevez's feet, but judging from the half-time time, the referee's penalty for the Villa players, Jose feels that if he does that, the referee will most likely judge himself for a foul.

To be on the safe side, José made a decisive choice.

After four days of recovery, José now has six stunts.

If there are no special circumstances, it should be sufficient.

So, when Tevez saw Jose cleanly take the ball from his feet, there was a slight look of regret on his face.

If you knew you would have shot straight at goal, you might have been able to skip Jose and score a goal.

Intermission.

Villa dressing room.

"Nathan, when you have the ball, when you see an opposing player approaching, you have to pass the ball out immediately." Paul Lambert looked at Baker and said.

"Okay, I got it." Baker nodded.

'In this game, our main goal is to keep the draw and win, Manchester City, as the defending champions, are now in second place, the FA will not let them lose easily, so you need to work harder..."

"Finally, I would like to add that when you are defending, try to avoid playing cards, and when you are not sure, try to interfere closely, at least not let them get the ball easily." Lambert again highlighted several tactical details.

……

In the second half, the two sides exchanged venues and the game continued.

Zabaleta and Dzeko and others got the opportunity to shoot with their feet in the Villa penalty area.

Clearly, City are not willing to accept a draw and want to take all three points away from Villa Park, as only then will they have a glimmer of title hope.

City's attack was fierce, but Jose was consistent in his play, leading Villa's backline and keeping the back of the net in the open.

In the 65th minute, Villa began to make a substitution, Holman came on as a substitute, and it was N'Zogbia who was replaced.

N'Zogbia have not been able to gain any advantage in this match against Yaya Toure.

However, with Holman on the field, the situation is still the same.

Shortly thereafter, Benteke received his first yellow card of the game for a Manchester City substitution, and Benteke felt that the opponent was dragging his feet, and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

In this substitution, Tevez was substituted and his replacement was Nasri.

In the 84th minute, there was a very controversial scene.

Yaya Toure shoots a cold shot from outside the box.

Jose flew to save, but he didn't touch the ball, and it turned out that Yaya Toure's shot didn't hit the inside of the goal, but hit the post.

The ball bounced off the post and was picked up by Dzeko, who was one step ahead.

Dzeko didn't stop the ball and fired straight into the far corner.

At this point, José had already fallen to the ground and had no time to get up.

The timeout was ungodly, but it was only a second, and it wasn't enough for Jose to get up from the ground and pounce on the other side of the goal.

So, Dzeko's pick, went in.

Manchester City have a one-goal lead away from home.

Paul Lambert was the first to be dissatisfied with Dzeko's goal, believing that Dzeko's goal, which was offside, should be ruled invalid.

Replays of the footage showed that Dzeko was indeed in an offside position when Yaya Toure shot.

It's a pity that in this era, there is no VAR yet, and the replay of the video is not of reference value.

The referee ruled that Dzeko's goal was valid, so the result could not be changed.

For the referee's decision, Jose could only sigh.

Questioning the referee on the pitch is definitely not a wise move.

By this time, the game had reached the 87th minute, and there was not much time left for Villa.