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Tunnel Talk: Alan Smith and Patrick Davison dissect Aston Villa v Manchester City stalemate

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Tunnel Talk – Aston Villa v Man City

Patrick Davison and Alan Smith look back and analyse Aston Villa's draw against Manchester City, in what was Remi Garde's first match as Villa boss.

Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne squandered City's best chances in the second half at Villa Park on Sunday as the Premier League leaders failed to find a way past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Vincent Kompany (L) vies with Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark
Image: Vincent Kompany (L) vies with Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark

"It was an unexpected result, top against bottom, but you have that unknown factor when a new manager comes in," Smith told Sky Sports in the latest Tunnel Talk series.

"It's difficult to know whether it's the manager that's made that difference or it's the bounce factor, and the players give another 10 per cent.

"They did look nice and compact - they had not had a clean sheet in 10 matches, so that's a start. Now they need to be a threat up the other end; they didn't have an effort on target today. Garde has got to find somebody to score the goals for him.

"You looked at Manuel Pellegrini on the City bench, and maybe he thought this is going to be one of those days when we just don't take our chances. It could have been a fairly straightforward afternoon for City, but in the end it was harder work than it might have been."

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Hit the video above to watch Davison and Smith analyse the action...

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