Villa Park was quiet, underwhelmed, frustrations boiling over in freezing weather, as Leicester repeatedly broke down the flow of Aston Villa attacks. Ross Barkley’s opener had been cancelled out by a counterattack strike that was all part of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s plan. An improved, dogged Leicester, better organised, more disciplined, as they sought to make up for their ruinous Christmas, ended up ruing another very preventable goal.
Just as Barkley’s strike had followed Jannik Vestergaard’s misdirected header, for the winner Jordan Ayew was robbed by Ian Maatsen. Leon Bailey was supplied his first goal of the season.
“In the Premier League you will be punished without a blink in your eye,” lamented Van Nistelrooy. Through such moments is an effective gameplan squandered. Van Nistelrooy’s Leicester have inherited his former Manchester United team’s habit of shots raining down on goal, at an average of more than 19 per game. In results terms, the lack of a Ruud manager bounce continues, City now firmly in the relegation zone, but in defeat were signs of development.
At a stadium he once richly enjoyed as a striker he had tightened up Leicester’s defence. “A stable performance,” he said. “The disappointment comes from not converting performances into points.”
“Leicester were well organised,” said Barkley. “They look a lot better a side now, the manager has them well drilled.”
The shot count was reduced to 13; better, yet still too many. It perhaps helped to face a blunted Villa, Unai Emery without Morgan Rogers and Jhon Durán, on the naughty step through suspension. A fixture-heavy campaign is weighing heavily even if Villa are now 10 home matches without defeat. Away form hems Villa in eighth, though the top five are within reaching distance after what Emery admitted was “90 minutes of struggling … to get those three points is fantastic”.
The Midlands derby and both teams’ 2025 had begun with little fire, Leicester unwilling to commit while Villa were fusty, playing as if weighed down by winter woolies.
The blundering of Villa’s first chance betrayed that lack of swing, Bailey slipping before Ollie Watkins’ scuffed shot was saved by Jakub Stolarczyk. The loss of a hamstrung John McGinn after 19 minutes highlighted the tightrope overloaded players walk.
As Villa muddled, Bilal El Khannouss broke through, only to balloon into the Holte End. If Van Nistelrooy was heartened by Leicester’s improved defensive discipline, a first half of low entertainment closed out with Stolarczyk saving from Matty Cash, a portent.
The quality of chance Leicester had been waiting for came early in the second half, El Khannouss’s run gave Stephy Mavididi a near-open goal, only for the winger to get his angles all wrong. That signalled an opening up of affairs, Villa attempting to service Watkins, who has played second fiddle to Durán feats. “The goals will come for Ollie,” said Barkley. Bailey, meanwhile, looked way off his form of last season.
Eventually pressure – more Villa shots – told as Barkley, a starter following much of December as a sub, drilled past a possibly unsighted Stolarczyk. It was a lead Villa could not long sustain, as Ayew, against his former club, zipped in a cross. Jamie Vardy was ready, waiting for the chance that always comes. Emi Martínez saved but Mavididi converted a far more difficult chance than his previous miss.
A couple of Austin MacPhee set-piece routines, Villa’s version of Arsenal’s linebacker blitz, looked their most likely route to victory, only for the goal to come from the only recently arrived Maatsen’s execution of pressing a lax opponent. “It’s not about blame and pointing,” said Van Nistelrooy. “It’s about handling the situation as team.”
“Try to choose the best option in the attacking third … be calm, calm, calm” was how Emery described his half-time advice to Bailey, the scorer. Of Maatsen, he said: “His impact was fantastic.”
Thereafter, and worryingly for Van Nistelrooy, more Villa shots rained down. As if renewed, Bailey clattered the bar before Emi Buendía and Watkins went close. Watkins laid Buendía up for a late miss that kept Leicester in a contest that might have delivered far more than disappointment. “In the end, hard work will pay off,” Van Nistelrooy promised. “Mistakes happen in football. The less, the better.”
