Rémi Garde admitted Aston Villa were lucky to get a point against Manchester City but the Frenchman believes his players will take confidence from the goalless draw that ends the club’s worst run of results since 1963 and gives them a platform to mount a fight for survival.
Some dubious finishing from the league leaders, the woodwork and a bizarre save from Brad Guzan, who kept out Raheem Sterling’s header with his head, enabled Villa to pick up a draw that ended a run of seven consecutive league defeats. Although Villa failed to register a shot on target, the Premier League’s bottom club played with the sort of belief that has been lacking for so much of the season.
For Garde, who was appointed as Tim Sherwood’s successor at the start of last week, there were several reasons for encouragement. “A clean sheet against such a good team, such good players all over the field, means that we should be a little bit more confident next time,” the Villa manager reflected.
“[It’s] what we were looking for – the players were probably looking for that for a long time, and it was a good occasion to do it.
“We have been a bit lucky, of course, because they touched the bar, we didn’t create so many chances but it was City, and City were full of confidence, they had a brilliant game in Seville [Tuesday’s 3-1 win in the Champions League], so today I think it’s a good point to work on.”
Asked whether he was relieved at the final whistle, Garde said: “Yes, to be fair, I was not frustrated not to get the three points. I am realistic, we did not create real chances. But it’s quite a good start.
“We have to believe we can be safe. It will be a tough mission, even if we have one more point today.”
Joe Hart, however, did not have a save to make throughout the whole match and the biggest worry for Villa remains the lack of goals. They have managed only 10 in 12 games – the joint-lowest in the Premier League – and Garde knows that ratio will need to improve if Villa, who are five points adrift of Newcastle in 17th, have any chance of staying up.
“I’m not crazy,” he said. “I’m quite realistic about the team we played against today. I was not expecting three or four goals off my team, because we played Manchester City, who are top of the table.
“They have crushed two or three English teams previously, they could have done the same to us.
“We will work hard to score goals, of course, but we have to build more confidence for the players step by step and any way we can achieve that.”
