Aston Villa condemned Manchester City to a sixth defeat in eight Premier League games with a 2-1 win over the reigning champions at Villa Park.
Jhon Duran stroked Villa in front early in the game, capitalising on a tentative start by Pep Guardiola’s side before Morgan Rogers deservedly doubled the advantage midway through the second half. The scorers seemed to symbolise the speed and strength City lacked.
Phil Foden pulled one goal back in stoppage time but even that could not mask how poor City were. The victory lifts Unai Emery’s side above them into fifth in the Premier League table, leaving Guardiola’s side down in sixth and still wondering if and when this slump will end.
How Villa won it
Villa tore into City right from the outset, John McGinn nicking the ball off Josko Gvardiol to allow Duran to test Stefan Ortega inside the first minute. The City goalkeeper had to make two more saves inside the opening 100 seconds as Villa set the tone.
Duran’s opener was a beautifully worked move after Youri Tielemans had spotted the run of Morgan Rogers, the marauding midfielder unselfishly squaring the ball for the Colombian striker to score his seventh Premier League goal of the season.
The pattern thereafter was City dominating possession without being able to create much of note, too static and too predictable in their passing. Every time they had the ball, it felt like this was just the pause before Villa were running at them again.
Duran and Tielemans, in an advanced role, were both excellent but Rogers was the standout performer because of the way that he bullied City, Foden almost bouncing off him at one point as he desperately tried to keep up with the Villa player.
Time and again Rogers picked the ball up on the half turn, held off his marker and skipped away from them. Kyle Walker, on as a half-time substitute as Guardiola tried in vain to change something, seemed to age in real time when up against him.
Morgan Rogers doubles Aston Villa’s lead against Manchester City
Guardiola happy for ‘exceptional’ Rogers
Man City head coach Pep Guardiola speaking in the press conference…
Rogers is a former City player, of course, allowed to leave for Middlesbrough in the summer of last year. Guardiola was full of praise for him but did offer an explanation for him not being able to make the breakthrough.
“In that time you have Kevin De Bruyne in his prime, David Silva and Bernardo [Silva], Riyad [Mahrez], Leroy [Sane] and Raheem [Sterling] and sometimes it is difficult. That is the only reason why [he didn’t get an opportunity].
“In this situation right now, of course, these kind of players would be with us, that’s obvious but it just wasn’t in the right moment.
“I’m happy for him because he’s a lovely guy. He exploded last season and this season. I think he’s a really top class player. England have another exceptional player.”
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Anton Toloui and Adam Bate discuss yet another Premier League defeat for Manchester City after their ‘fragile’ confidence plays its part in a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa
Emery on how Villa did it
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery speaking in the press conference…
“Today, how we started, scoring a goal, doing a good press, the first five to 10 minutes, getting corners, was very important for the confidence it gave us.
“Then they had two chances to score, we were defending so low. We spoke in the dressing room at half-time, the plan was to push them, stop them dominating the ball and, secondly, when building up, stop them pressing us, to get our possession.
“We did that better and stopped them. I think that was key. We started creating chances and scored the [second] goal. Our confidence increased, theirs was going down. I thought it was fantastic.”
Asked if Villa took advantage of Man City’s vulnerability…
“Manchester City are a bit under the confidence they have normally. They played fantastic for 30 minutes in the first half. If they score in that moment maybe they recover their confidence. In the second half, it was completely different.”
Asked if Villa can finish above Man City this season…
“It is 17 games, we have 28 points. City are behind us but usually they are going to get better in the next matches in the next month. We need to keep our mentality and think only of the next match. The next match is Newcastle away.”
Where do Man City go from here?
On paper, things do get a little easier for City from here on with four of the next five games coming against teams towards the bottom of the table, with the other being against mid-table Brentford. But you would not bet much money on them in this form.
City remain unable to cope with the counter-attacks but just as alarming is their lack of incision in front of goal. “We’ve scored a goal,” chanted the visiting supporters, sarcastically, when Foden found the net late on. They are not creating enough chances.
Why? Although Jack Grealish should have done much more given that he found himself one on one with Matty Cash numerous times over the 90 minutes, a lack of movement off the ball is an obvious answer. It was startling how static City appeared in attack.
Erling Haaland seemed isolated with only Foden willing to run beyond him. Ilkay Gundogan used to, so did Bernardo Silva, but neither are playing well. Kevin De Bruyne remained on the bench but Guardiola clearly doubts the solutions are there either.
Given City’s long reign, many have been reluctant to rule them out of a trademark title charge. But the more pressing question is whether this is the new normal for this group of players. A rebuild is required. That will take time. And mean more painful days ahead.
