Aston Villa and Manchester City have headed into half time level following a goalless first half at Villa Park in the Premier League.

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Villa, who have new manager Remi Garde in charge for the first time this afternoon, made a bright start to the match, dominating possession early on, before Idrissa Gueye attempted to fire the ball in from 20 yards out, but his finish went wide.

The visitors started to show more intent down the other end as the half progressed, with Raheem Sterling setting up Aleksandar Kolarov for a shot, but Brad Guzan made the save, before Fernando blasted the ball wide.

Kevin de Bruyne and Sterling continued to get the ball forward for Man City, but Guzan claimed a cross from the latter, while Micah Richards also made a clearance.

The visitors were dealt a blow midway through the period as Wilfried Bony picked up a knock, forcing Manuel Pellegrini to replace the striker with Jesus Navas, who had an opportunity just moments after coming off the bench, but his delivery was cleared.

Sterling thought that he should have had a penalty shortly before the interval as he went down under pressure from Ciaran Clark in the box while trying to control a through-ball from Yaya Toure, but referee Craig Pawson was not interested.