Man City women's player ratings vs Aston Villa: Khadija Shaw silenced while Kerolin struggles as WSL leaders fail to fire in disappointing draw

Manchester City's march towards the Women's Super League title was stalled somewhat on Sunday as the runaway leaders were held to a 0-0 draw by Aston Villa. Andree Jeglertz's side struggled to create chances against the most porous defence in the division, and if not for some excellent Khiara Keating saves, they may well have fallen to just a third defeat of the campaign.

City were slow out of the blocks following the international break, and Villa almost took the lead through Noelle Maritz, only for her to be denied by a combination of Keating and Kerstin Casparij. The former then had to be on her toes to save Anna Patten's clever near-post flick from the resulting corner.

Keating again came to City's rescue soon after when Kirsty Hanson's own flick almost wrong-footed the England international goalkeeper, and though she was beaten by Chastity Grant seconds later, the post came to her and City's rescue.

City eventually got going late in the first half, and they dominated after the break, and they came close to breaking the deadlock with headers from Rebecca Knaak and Vivianne Miedema, though both were saved with relative ease by Ellie Roebuck in the Villa goal. A late Alex Greenwood corner was then cleared off the line by Grant before Roebuck tipped Sydney Lohmann's teasing cross around the post in stoppage time.

The draw leaves City nine points clear of second-placed Manchester United, though the Red Devils now have a game in hand and are due to welcome their local rivals to Old Trafford in a fortnight's time.

GOAL rates City's players from Villa Park...

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Goalkeeper & Defence
Khiara Keating (7/10):
Had a couple of hairy moments in the first half but showed superb reflexes to deny both Patten and Hanson.
Kerstin Casparij (6/10):
Looked to drive forward from right-back whenever possible but combinations with Kerolin didn't come off on enough occasions.
Jade Rose (8/10):
Brilliant challenge kept Kendall from running in on goal early on, and she was very assured from there onwards.
Rebecca Knaak (8/10):
Felt like she was in the way every time Villa looked to deliver a cross into the box. Unfortunate when her header early in the second half was kept out by Roebuck.
Alex Greenwood (6/10):
Set-piece deliveries caused problems and she was solid in most defensive situations, albeit she did still pick up a booking.

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Midfield
Laura Blindkilde Brown (5/10):
Struggled to impose herself at all in the first half against her former club. Improved slightly after the break, but still replaced just past the hour mark.
Sam Coffey (4/10):
Combative in winning the ball back but was very wasteful when in possession. Miles off her best level.
Vivianne Miedema (5/10):
Got in behind to trouble the Villa defence on a couple of occasions but couldn't dictate things from her No.10 role as she would have liked.
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Attack
Kerolin (4/10):
Fired a couple of wayward shots off target early on and her decision-making was pretty poor throughout. Number of attacks fizzled out when the Brazilian got on the ball.
Khadija Shaw (4/10):
Barely involved in the opening 45 minutes. Saw more of the ball as City began to dominate after the break, but did not have her shooting boots on.
Lauren Hemp (6/10):
Posed a threat with her pace and direct dribbling. Will wonder how none of her brilliant crosses weren't converted.

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Subs & Manager
Sydney Lohmann (6/10):
Carried the ball well in midfield after replacing Blindkilde Brown. Almost scored right at the death with a cross that Roebuck needed to save.
Andree Jeglertz (5/10):
Picked his strongest available XI, but his players just didn't get off the bus in the first half. Did have a lack of options on the bench, but could perhaps still have made more substitutions just to change things up.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Midfield

Attack

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Subs & Manager