Manchester City took on Aston Villa in ninth match weekend of the Premier League season, where they lost 1-0 in a game that saw them drop six points behind current league leaders Arsenal.
Manchester City had enjoyed a nine-game unbeaten run in the games prior to this, and in general, they had begun showing signs of recapturing the level they have had over the years.
Guardiola’s side has lost the last three meetings at Villa Park, and it is quickly seeming to be a bogey ground for the team. Aston Villa’s fullback Matty Cash scored the only goal of the game after a well worked corner routine, and from then, the home side seemed to be able to deal with everything Manchester City threw at them for the remainder of the game.
The game highlighted one of the main issues plaguing Guardiola’s side which is the dynamism and athleticism in the midfield. Manchester City went into this with game with Nico Gonzalez not being fit enough to start and Ballon d’Or winner, Rodri, being ruled out, meaning they did not start with a recognised defensive midfielder. Summer signing Tijjani Reijnders partnered Bernardo Silva in midfield. Manchester City had a very promising opening 10 minutes, but they were unable to sustain this level of dominance across the game.
Pep Guardiola had this to say after the game
“We have scored a lot of goals this season,” he said.
“Erling, of course, but today they [Aston Villa] had a back five and defended really well. Savinho, Jeremy [Doku], made the crosses."
“We saw how many times Phil [Foden] attacked, Tijjani [Reijnders] attacked, we were there and we were close. It’s just about the high pressing."
“With [Morgan] Rogers, [Boubacar] Kamara,[John] McGinn, they are a Champions League team. Top, top team. We compete really well.”
“I’m not going to say that because we didn’t come back, the spirit in the second half was good."
“They defended well, the actions with Phil, Jeremy, Savinho, Oscar [Bobb]."
“How many times we attack. We missed the last action but they defend really well and sometimes this happens.”
With the loss at Villa Park, Manchester City have now lost three games this season. Pep Guardiola and his team have work to do to ensure they can return to the form that saw them go unbeaten in the nine games prior to this game, if they want to close back up to Arsenal and challenge for the Premier League title this season.