Alan Shearer explains how Man City were lucky to avoid defeat at Aston Villa

Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer has explained how Manchester City were lucky to avoid defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Blues were not at their best in the West Midlands on Saturday but when Erling Haaland scored his 10th goal of the season at the beginning of the second half, things were looking up. However, 15 minutes from time, Steven Gerrard's side got themselves level thanks to a fine strike from Leon Bailey.

City still had chances to win the game but they ended up having to settle for a point on the road. And Shearer believes that on another day, Pep Guardiola's team may have lost at Villa Park.

ALSO READ: Man City player ratings vs Aston Villa

Referee Simon Hooper blew the whistle early after it was adjudged that Philippe Coutinho was offside in the City penalty area. Coutinho would go on to smash the ball into the back of the net as the Blues players stopped due to the whistle.

Looking at the replays, the former Liverpool man was clearly onside. Commenting on the incident on BBC's Match of the Day, the Newcastle United legend said: "Steven mentioned it didn't he? It is not offside.

"VAR couldn't intervene because the ref blew his whistle before Coutinho actually hit his shot. You can see the assistant flag [early] there.

" City's players stop and it takes a deflection but he is not offside. We saw the law where referees let the game go on and then flag but because the referee blew his whistle, that is why VAR could not intervene.

"The Man City players do stop and Ederson could have got a hand to it but I can understand Steven Gerrard's frustration." The point sees City close the gap on Arsenal but Mikel Arteta's side play their game in hand on Guardiola's men on Sunday away at Manchester