Steven Gerrard has revealed what he said to his Aston Villa players to inspire them before they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
City came into the game at Villa Park off back of back-to-back wins – in which Erling Haaland scored consecutive hat-tricks – and events appeared to be taking a similar course when Haaland converted Kevin de Bruyne's cross at the back post just after half-time. The away side pushed hard for a second but Villa stood firm, and the hosts were rewarded for their resilience when Leon Bailey slammed home an equaliser 15 minutes from time.
Pep Guardiola's team were clear favourites to win heading into the match, and Gerrard has explained how he used his team's underdog status to their advantage. "We said to the players [before the game], 'listen, outside of the dressing room, outside of Aston Villa, no one gives us a glimmer of hope today'," Gerrard said.
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"It was important inside the dressing room that we stuck together, that we had belief and we had everyone all in and pushing towards executing a game plan. As the game went on we started to get a bit more confidence and belief, and we hurt them at decent times. We could have had a second goal as well.
"Against one of the best teams, it would've been understandable if the players felt sorry for themselves and went under but we never – we rose. I was really impressed with the character and bravery the players showed to get back in this game. On another day, if the referee wasn't so eager on his whistle we might have had a second."
Gerrard and Villa showed that it is possible for teams to hold their own against City if they come with a solid game plan, execute it well and don't crumble when City inevitably score.
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