High-tempo first half could have been early lead for Villa | OneFootball

A mistake by Emiliano Martínez gave Manchester City the early breakthrough. It's moments like that in which a world-class keeper is usually expected to make the save that can often prove the difference in matches. Seemingly caught between two frames of mind of whether to catch or parry away, the Bernardo Silva strike found its way in the back of the net.

Only moments earlier, Marcus Rashford hit the post mere fractions into the game. While the England international was able to convert his penalty, he will likely feel somewhat unfortunate to not have scored one from the run of play. Toward the closing stages of the half, he saw his effort not seriously threaten the target, but his run resulted in a good goal-scoring opportunity.

The hosts had more of the ball, but if it wasn't for that self-inflicted error from the team, then they could have easily gone into the locker room without a goal. Villa elected to stay more compact and frustrate City. Through the first 45 minutes, that plan has largely worked. At times, the home side even kicked the ball straight out of bounds.

Then when AVFC did regain possession, the midfield showed a good ability to get the ball forward quickly and into the channels or to players out wide. It's moments like that that further illustrate how lethal Unai Emery's side can be. Despite some discussion around the starting XI, there is a lot of quality in the attack. And when Villa win the ball back, they look just as bit as dangerous as anyone else in Europe.

Potential issue to monitor

A couple of concerns need to be brought up concerning Martínez. Granted, mistakes can happen, and even Matty Cash will say that he should have done better in the buildup, but the Villa No. 1 isn't looking as steady or confident as he has in past weeks as of late.

This isn't only in regard to the latest goals that he has given up but also his distribution. It's known how confident he is in himself and how great he can be as a keeper. For athletes, though, a single moment can sometimes snowball. It's not enough to elicit panic or anything like that. The play and confidence on the ball of Martínez or something that Aston Villa fans need to continue to monitor.