A brilliant response from Monday’s uninspiring display at Aston Villa, with us coming from behind twice to earn a well deserved draw with Manchester City.

Here’s an assessment of each player’s performance along with our marks out of 10:

STARTING 11:

Dubravka – 9 – Outstanding today, stepping up in key moments when we needed him to. Made a great double save in the second half and pulled off a superb stop to deny Sterling’s goal-bound shot across goal late on.

Manquillo – 8 – Many would’ve feared he’d be torn apart by Raheem Sterling, but the Spaniard stuck to his task fantastically today. Showed real discipline and determination to limit the effectiveness of him and Mendy down their left and won the free-kick that led to Shelvey’s late equaliser.

Fernandez – 9 – He barely put a foot wrong. Read the game brilliantly but was also a warrior at the back when he needed to be, getting his head on several dangerous crosses and bullying City’s frustrated forwards.

Clark – 8 – Another solid display from the Irish international, who made sure Gabriel Jesus barely got a kick. Plenty big clearances in a no nonsense display from a defender who’s becoming surprisingly reliable.

Dummett – 7 – He was shaky looked jittery on the ball to begin with, but recovered well with some key blocks and clearing headers.

Willems – 8.5 – If he keeps playing like this, a £10m deal to sign him permanently in the summer will seem an absolute snip! Took his goal like a 25-goal striker, showed his quality on the ball throughout and kept Mahrez quiet all afternoon.

Hayden – 8 – He was pretty non-existent at Villa on Monday, but he was back to somewhere near his best today in that defensive midfield role. Pressed consistently, was quick into tackles and won his battles more often than not.

Shelvey – 8.5 – He’s taken a lot of stick for his limitations off the ball, but he did the ugly side of the game brilliantly today and showed that moment of quality where it matters to score our late equaliser from range.

Almiron – 8 – Bagged his first assist for the club with a lovely reverse pass into Willems and grew in confidence from then on in. He ran at them, won free kicks and worked as hard as ever, with only Hayden covering more ground than him today.

Saint-Maximin – 8 – He had the beating of Kyle Walker, running rings around the England international at times. He didn’t know how to handle him. His final product must, but his ability to carry the ball, beat a man and turn defence into attack is absolutely huge for us.

Joelinton – 6 – He got the better of Fernandinho and won plenty balls in the air, but there were still a few too many loose touches or careless bits of play for a ‘£40m’ player. Price tag aside, he did a decent job, but we need more from our new number 9 in the final third.

SUBS:

Gayle – He worked hard and tried his best to close down the Man City defence whenever he could, but was feeding off long balls for most of his 25 minutes on the field.

Atsu – Rarely got a chance to run at Walker like ASM did, but thought quickly to cut it back for Jonjo Shelvey, giving him his third assist of the season.

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