Manchester City 1 (Erling Haaland 52′)
Aston Villa 2 (Nicolas Jackson 6′, 60)
Manchester City’s seven-match winning run in the Premier League came to an end today as they went down to a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Nicolas Jackson bagged a brace for Unai Emery’s side and Erling Haaland scored City’s goals. Errors from Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma proved costly and individual errors are becoming a theme of Manchester City’s play at the back.
When the starting lineups were announced Enzo Maresca made four changes to the starting lineup that beat AEK Athens. Erling Haaland, Marc Guehi, Jeremy Doku and Iliman Ndiaye came in for Phil Foden, Rico Lewis, Allan and Floyd Samba. Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly returned to the bench while Matheus Nunes was not included in Manchester City’s matchday squad for today’s match.
First half.
Aston Villa burst out of the traps to begin the game. They were well and truly up for the game and enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening five minutes. Gianluigi Donnarumma conceded a corner for delaying a goal kick, which summed up the start that Enzo Maresca’s side had made to the match.
Nicolas Jackson gives Aston Villa a deserved lead as Marc Guehi once again costs his team.
Aston Villa would take a deserved lead in the sixth minute. Marc Guehi was played a ball on the left-hand side of City’s defence but his frankly horrible first touch gave away possession to Nicolas Jackson who was through on goal. Jackson surged into a great position in the City area and showed great composure and produced a thundering finish from close range that rifled into the roof of the net to give Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead. That was the third straight goal that a Guehi error had led to a goal, and it is becoming a concern for Manchester City.
Iliman Ndiaye forced Aston Villa keeper Zion Suzuki into his first save of the match in the 13th minute. Ndiaye cut inside from the right wing and showed great footwork to leave Villa left-back Ian Maatsen stranded before he fired a low, curling left-footed shot on goal from the edge of the Villa area. Ndiaye’s shot was destined for the bottom corner before Suzuki made a fantastic save at full stretch to his right.
Rayan Cherki forced Suzuki into another strong save in the 21st minute. Manchester City played the ball from left to right to get the ball to Doku on the left. Doku drove into the penalty area and cut the ball inside to Rayan Cherki. Cherki got a strong shot on target from 10 yards out which Suzuki got down well to save to his right. Cherki’s shot had the power but it was too close to the Aston Villa keeper. However, Enzo Maresca’s side had grown into the game and were on top following Aston Villa’s fast start.
City begin to pile on the pressure as Khusanov forces another save from Zion Suzuki.
Abdukodir Khusanov would be the next City player to force Zion Suzuki into a save. City again dropped Villa deep into their own area. Jeremy Doku again played a ball from the left into a dangerous position that the Villa defence initially cleared. The ball was worked to Khusanov who fired a low shot from 25 yards out on the right that Suzuki got down well to save.
Iliman Ndiaye hit the post in the 28th minute. Manchester City played through the Villa pass and Rayan Cherki was found in space in the middle of the pitch. Cherki drove forward and played the ball out wide to Iliman Ndiaye. Ndiaye drove at Ian Maatsen and curled another low effort across Zion Suzuki to the far post from the right. Ndiaye’s shot beat the Villa keeper but hit the post and went wide.
Approaching the 40th minute, Aston Villa were defending well and posing City their own threat. Particularly with the long ball over the top of City’s defence aimed towards Nicolas Jackson. Also, Manchester City were having trouble at times playing out from the back, especially from goal kicks. In the 40th minute, Ruben Dias would make a goal saving challenge to block Aston Villa winger Alysson’s left-footed shot from close range after the Brazilian winger surged into the City area after a great run inside from the right wing.
Both teams would have moments before the halftime whistle blew. Aston Villa would take a 1-0 lead into the interval after they were rewarded for their fast start to the match.
Thoughts and observations from Manchester City’s first half performance.
After Aston Villa burst out of the traps to begin the game, Manchester City did dominate large portions of the first half. Only the post and Aston Villa keeper Zion Suzuki prevented Enzo Maresca’s side from finding an equalizer.
However, there were areas of concern for Enzo Maresca to address at halftime. A major one Ruben Dias was getting drawn out of position in the heart of City’s defence by clever movement from John McGinn. McGinn would start up front then drift into midfield. This was drawing the Manchester City captain out and leaving a big hole for Nicolas Jackson to operate in. That did seem to be Villa’s path to a second goal.
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for City. Far from it. They did play well after Villa’s fast start and the game was well and truly alive at halftime.
Second half.
Enzo Maresca brought on Rico Lewis and Phil Foden for Marc Guehi at halftime. Abdukodir Khusanov moved to centre-back with Lewis slotting in at right-back. Lewis gave away possession to begin the second half, which led to a Villa counterattack that was defended well by City at the cost of a corner. Aston Villa’s corner came to nothing, but it was an early warning for Enzo Maresca’s side after the interval.
Erling Haaland heads home to give Manchester City the equalizer they deserved.
Manchester City would get a well-deserved equalizer in the 52nd minute. Iliman Ndiaye was fouled by Boubacar Kamara around 30 yards from goal after some great City pressing won back possession high up the pitch. It did seem like Enzo Fernandez would take the opportunity to get an attempt on goal. Instead, he played the ball to the right wing to Iliman Ndiaye. Ndiaye stood up Ian Maatsen and played a great cross into a dangerous area. Erling Haaland towered over the Villa defence to head home from close to make it 1-1. It was a great set piece routine from City which caught out the Aston Villa defence.
Zion Suzuki would deny a thunderous Josko Gvardiol shot from close range to keep the score at 1-1 in the 56th minute. Jeremy Doku had Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash right where he wanted him after Cash picked up a yellow card a minute earlier. Cash stood off Doku which allowed the Belgian winger time to pick out Josko Gvardiol in the Villa area after the Croatian international made a great run into the box. Gvardiol unleashed a stinging shot on goal from the left-hand side of the penalty spot that Suzuki tipped over the crossbar.
Nicolas Jackson restores Aston Villa’s lead after a sweeping Villa counter.
Aston Villa would retake the lead in the 60th minute. A long ball was played up towards Nicolas Jackson who won his aerial duel and the ball was played out wide to Ibrahim Mbaye. Mbaye had acres of space to operate in and he played a great ball to Jackson who was unmarked just inside the City area. Jackson’s shot had power and squirmed in as Gianluigi Donnarumma dove over the top of the ball while trying to make a routine save. It was a poor goal for City to concede. Donnarumma should have done a lot better with Jackson’s shot.
Manchester City almost had another equaliser in the 67th minute. Jeremy Doku got himself into a great position to cross on the left and the ball came across the Villa area. It was poorly cleared by the Aston Villa defence ans the ball squirmed to Josko Gvardiol. Gvardiol got a shot away from close range but Zion Suzuki reacted quickly to the danger to smother Gvardiol’s shot.
The game had become disjointed as it ticked into the 77th minute. There was a stop-start nature to the game as both teams were correctly whistled for fouls. This suited Unai Emery’s side as they were taking all of the flow out of the match. It was now up to Manchester City to force the issue and find an equalizer.
Enzo Maresca’s side looked to be out of ideas as the clock ticked away.
With five minutes plus stoppage time to go, Enzo Maresca’s side were struggling to create any openings or have meaningful possession. The flow in their play had vanished, which was a credit to Aston Villa. Manchester City’s most dangerous attacking outlet looked to be Jeremy Doku on the left.
Erling Haaland saw a header cleared off the line by Ian Maatsen in the 89th minute. Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku combined on the left and Doku played Foden in towards the byline. Foden got in a great cross from the byline which Haaland got on the end of. His header was goal bound and Zion Suzuki was scrambling to get to it, but Ian Maatsen headed the danger away.
Manchester City wouldn’t find an equalizer and Aston Villa would claim a 2-1 win. Unai Emery’s side made it four wins over City at Villa Park in four consecutive seasons as Enzo Maresca’s side suffered their first defeat of the Premier League season.
Thoughts from City’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.
Defensive errors are the theme of the day for Manchester City today. Nicolas Jackson did superbly well to punish an early error from Marc Guehi. He was also beneficiary of a poor piece of goalkeeping from Gianluigi Donnarumma. Errors at the back are proving costly for Enzo Maresca’s side and they must rectified sooner rather than later.
Aston Villa did rattle Manchester City. They took the lead in the 6th minute and were up for the match. However, after their fast start, Enzo Maresca’s side did respond well. City would find their equalizer through Erling Haaland and it did seem like City would push on from that point. However, Nicolas Jackson would score again and it took the wind out of Manchester City’s sails.
Unfortunately, City’s winning streak in the league ends at seven. There is plenty to take from today’s match for Manchester City. But today wasn’t their day. As such, Aston Villa pick up yet another victory over City at Villa Park.