Death of Wales Manager Gary Speed Overshadows Pair of Premier League Matches

Death of Wales Manager Gary Speed Overshadows Pair of Premier League Matches
John Nestor

London, England

Liverpool and Manchester City battled to a draw as did Swansea and Aston Villa in a pair of Premier League matches overshadowed by the death of Wales manager Gary Speed.

The death of the 42-year-old Speed was confirmed just before the start of the matches and at Swansea a moment of silence was replaced by a spontaneous round of applause and chants in honor of Speed.

Four members of the Wales squad were on the pitch for the game as Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Joe Allen and James Collins started the game. Villa goalkeeper Shay Given played with Speed at Newcastle and was in tears.

"We decided from our end that we wanted to play as a mark of respect for Gary because he was a great man of football," Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said. "It is just so sad. He had been doing a fantastic job for Wales, and it's a sad day for football."

Liverpool and Manchester City played to a 1-1 draw.

Vincent Kompany gave Man City a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute with a header into the top corner off of a corner kick by David Silva. Charlie Adam helped pull Liverpool even as his shot was defelcted off of a Man City player past goalkeeper Joe Hart just two minutes later.