Aston Villa lost 2-0 to Manchester City on Saturday, but Nathan Baker impressed in the hosts’ back-line.
For 82 minutes it looked as though Aston Villa would earn a well-deserved point against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. But in the end, for all the fine defending from Paul Lambert’s side, goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero secured a win for the visitors and left the hosts with three defeats from three very tough games.
All Villa’s defenders impressed but Nathan Baker deserves special praise for his solid performance throughout.
The 23-year-old made one outfield block and a total of 19 effective clearances. He also won two tackles, nine duels, four aerial duels and five interceptions.
In short, City kept knocking but the Villa defender kept turning them away in fine style.
| Outfield Block | Won Tackle | Effective Clearance | Effective Head Clearance | Duel Won | Aerial Won | Interception Won | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Baker | 1 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 90 |
Ultimately Manuel Pellegrini’s side did get the goals to win the game, but Villa can hold their heads high and look ahead to a slightly easier run of matches in the near future.
After the match, we took to Twitter to see what Villa fans thought of Baker’s performance, and you can read a selection of what we found below:
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