Aston Villa inflicted Manchester City’s sixth defeat in eight Premier League matches with a 2-1 win over the defending champions at Villa Park.
John Doran put Villa ahead early in the game, capitalizing on a tentative start from Pep Guardiola’s side before Morgan Rogers deservedly doubled the lead midway through the second half. The scorers seemed to symbolize the speed and power that City lacked.
Phil Foden reduced the deficit by one goal in stoppage time, but even that did not hide the extent of City’s poor performance. The win lifts Unai Emery’s side above them into fifth place in the Premier League table, leaving Guardiola’s side in sixth place still wondering if and when this slump will end.
How Villa won it
Villa stormed City from the start, with John McGinn collecting the ball from Josko Gvardiol to allow Duran to test Stefan Ortega in the first minute. The City goalkeeper had to make two more saves in the opening 100 seconds for Villa to set the tone.
Duran’s opener was a neat move after Youri Tielemans found the run of Morgan Rogers, the prolific midfielder who unselfishly crossed the ball for the Colombian striker to score his seventh Premier League goal of the season.
The pattern after that was for City to dominate possession without being able to create much of note, and were very consistent and very predictable in their passing. Every time they had the ball, it seemed like it was just a pause before Villa ran at them again.
Both Doran and Tielemans, in an advanced role, were excellent, but it was Rogers who was the standout performer because of the way he bullied City, with Foden almost rebounding on him at one point as he desperately tried to keep up with the Villa player.
Time and time again Rogers picked up the ball on the half-turn, cleared his marker, and moved away from them. Kyle Walker, who came on as a first-half substitute while Guardiola tried to no avail to change something, appeared to age in real time when faced.
Morgan Rogers doubles Aston Villa’s lead against Manchester City
Where will Man City go from here?
On paper, things get a little easier for Manchester City from here on out, as four of the next five matches will come against teams at the bottom of the table, while the other will be against mid-table Brentford. But you wouldn’t bet a lot of money on them like that.
City are still unable to deal with counter-attacks, but what is also worrying is their lack of opening in front of goal. The visiting team’s fans chanted sarcastically when Foden scored late in the match, “We have scored a goal.” They don’t create enough chances.
Why? Although Jack Grealish should have done more given he found himself face to face with Matty Cash several times during the 90 minutes, the lack of movement off the ball is an obvious answer. It was amazing how consistent City appeared in attack.
Erling Haaland looked isolated with only Foden willing to move past him. Ilkay Gundogan is used to it, and so is Bernardo Silva, but neither of them is playing well. Kevin De Bruyne remains on the bench but Guardiola is clearly skeptical about solutions as well.
Given City’s long reign, many were reluctant to be excluded from brand equity. But the more pressing question is whether this is the new normal for this group of players. Rebuilding required. This will take time. It means more painful days ahead.
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