Aston Villa manager Remi Garde is pleased with the “positive” nature of his side’s performance during their 1-1 draw with league leaders Leicester City.
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The Foxes’ fairytale showed no sign of losing any allure as they went ahead at Villa Park with a 28th-minute Shinji Okazaki goal, confirmed with the aid of technology after goalkeeper Mark Bunn had clawed the ball back from beyond the line.
Full report to follow.
Both sides were unchanged from their midweek 1-0 wins but there was no hint of the first half drama to come during an drab opening. Cissokho was only booked when it could easily have been a red card, another bewildering decision from East.
“We started very well and scored a goal but after the missed penalty the Aston Villa players took a new energy”.
“The second half was a big battle and we were unlucky to concede because the striker touched the ball with his hands and the referee didn’t see it. Of course, they tried to push but there was no clear action from them, and we missed two chances on the counter”.
Villa ended their 19-match winless run with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday and Ranieri believes they could be a harder proposition than Tottenham.
“It’s one point, it’s okay, it’s a derby – but we are disappointed”.
“I think it keeps the momentum going, Leicester are a good team, they are doing very well this season”.
It was one of those moments that typifies the misfortune of a struggling team and they duly fell behind just before the half hour.
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Rudy Gestede’s equaliser 15 minutes from time was enough to earn Villa a deserved point and it tells you everything about Leicester’s remarkable campaign that their dressing room will be viewing this result as a huge disappointment. “It will be tough but we have no choice but to fight”.
