Happy Christmas, Pep. For Manchester City and Guardiola, this was another painful destruction, an unthinkable ninth defeat in 12 matches for a team who have flipped from formidable to fragile and flat. City have now lost six of their past eight Premier League matches, as many as they gave up en route to the title in 2020-21, the worst of their championship-winning seasons. They could end the weekend as low as ninth.
Guardiola, in a long black cloak and boots, wandered over to the increasingly bewildered away fans. Then came a deep puff of the cheeks. These are hard times. For Unai Emery and Villa, this was another triumph, Jhon Durán and Morgan Rogers scoring fine goals to overpower the visitors.
If Guardiola was feeling uneasy before kick-off, his players offered nothing in the way of reassurances. From the moment Phil Foden got the ball rolling on halfway, Villa jumped on to the front foot. Within 15 seconds John McGinn hounded Josko Gvardiol and released Duran through on goal. Durán’s shot was unusually weak, allowing Stefan Ortega to parry, but he probably took it too early. From the subsequent corner Pau Torres flicked a header goalwards at the front post, which Ortega somehow kept out, his left hand helping the ball on to the crossbar and clear. Then came another uncomfortable, this time deep, Lucas Digne corner, which Ortega pushed over.
Villa fancied themselves. Durán tried another early, speculative shot from a Digne throw-in and Manuel Akanji, who began in the centre of defence with John Stones, had to cut the cord to Durán after McGinn tried to pick out the Colombia striker at the back post. It would not take Duran too long to extend his phenomenal goalscoring run. With 16 minutes gone, he was bumping chests in with Rogers after combining for Villa’s opener. It was a piercing Villa move but a damning one from a City perspective. With three sharp passes Villa ripped City open.
Emiliano Martínez fed Youri Tielemans, who, midway inside the Villa half, successfully lured a pressing, wandering Stones out of position. Tielemans then whacked a pass through the middle of City’s defence for Rogers to chase and he unselfishly squared for Durán to finish. Durán, who has scored in all six games he has started this season, now averages a goal every 82 minutes in the league. Amadou Onana placed an imaginary crown on his head to cap the celebrations.
Rogers, who spent four years at City after moving from West Brom as a youngster, thoroughly enjoyed himself, riding challenges, hurdling opponents, kickstarting moves from deep and the general thrill of keeping the champions at arm’s length. At one point approaching the interval Rogers powered forward from left-back after stealing possession from a huddle of City shirts, promptly leaving Foden crumpled in a heap and then barging Silva out of the way.
For City, this was another whimper of a defeat. Guardiola resorted to moonlighting as a ball boy, side-footing it to Rico Lewis in search of a quick restart after Durán swiped the ball from Bernardo Silva. For a moment it seemed the oles may seep in as early as the half-hour mark, as Villa played cool triangles around a pedestrian City midfield. The City manager crouched in his technical area, ruminating and wrestling with his thoughts, his left hand propping up his chin, as a Villa counter faltered at the last. Grealish and Foden sent shots wide but City were again short of any bite.
Guardiola’s eyes were glued to the ground at the interval, during which Grealish and Martínez exchanged words. Grealish was booed by the locals and a member of City’s security staff shepherded down the tunnel, Martínez on the windup in the rear-view mirror. Grealish, this his first start at Villa Park since leaving for City in a £100m deal, was given a few bumps and bruises but he and his teammates appeared mentally scarred from the run. They never recovered.
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Rogers brushed off Mateo Kovacic in the buildup to Villa’s second. He started and finished the move, burying the ball with a left-foot, diagonal finish after McGinn squared the ball on the edge of the box. Guardiola stood still, seemingly shellshocked, before turning away in agony. Foden reduced the deficit late on but, make no mistake, this was a 2-1 bludgeoning by City’s sky-high standards.
