Feliz Navidad, 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 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, and twice as many as last season.
At the final whistle Guardiola, clad all in black, wandered over to the increasingly perplexed away fans. What do you say at this point? Then came a deep puff of the cheeks. These are strange, gloomy times. City simply have not performed like this in his era of supreme domination. How Villa preyed on the visitors’ naked vulnerability.
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 Jhon Durán on goal. Durán’s shot was unusually weak, allowing Stefan Ortega to parry. From the corner Pau Torres flicked a header goalwards at the front post, which Ortega somehow kept out, a combination of his left hand and the crossbar. Then Ortega pushed over another awkward corner.
It would not take Durán too long to extend his phenomenal goalscoring run. With 16 minutes gone, he was bumping chests with Morgan Rogers after combining for Villa’s opener. It was a piercing move but a damning one from a defensive perspective. With three sharp passes Villa went back to front and ripped City open.
Emiliano Martínez fed Youri Tielemans, who, midway inside the Villa half, lured a pressing, wandering Stones out of position. Tielemans punched a pass through the middle of the defence for Rogers to chase and he unselfishly squared for Durán to finish. The Colombian, 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 a imaginary crown on Durán’s 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. Approaching the interval he powered forward from left-back after stealing possession, leaving Foden in a heap and then barging Bernardo Silva out of the way.
Rogers rattled a post after reading Durán’s backheel and ignoring Gvardiol before scoring a deserved goal. Rogers brushed off Mateo Kovacic in the buildup. He started and finished the move, burying the ball with a left-foot, diagonal shot after McGinn squared on the edge of the area. Guardiola stood still, seemingly shellshocked, before turning away in agony.
Foden reduced the deficit in added time but this was another whimper of a defeat for City. Guardiola 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.
Jack Grealish and Foden sent shots wide but City were again short of any bite, Erling Haaland anonymous. After a steaming run Gvardiol sent a clunky header over from a Grealish cross. Haaland, meanwhile, had a sole touch in the Villa area, an 89th-minute header.
Guardiola’s eyes were glued to the ground at the interval, during which Grealish and Martínez exchanged words. Grealish was booed by the locals as a member of City’s security staff shepherded him down the tunnel, Martínez on the windup in the rear-view mirror. Grealish and his teammates appeared mentally scarred from a bruising run. They never recovered from a wobbling start.
Guardiola made six changes from the stoppage-time defeat to Manchester United but Stones was withdrawn at half-time after he suffered a recurrence of a previous injury. Kyle Walker arrived in his place, presumably tasked with stifling Rogers, Gvardiol shifting to centre-back, but City ceded any illusion of control.
Soon after the restart Matty Cash blasted a shot against the side netting after Tielemans sidestepped Manuel Akanji on halfway, overlooking the unmarked Boubacar Kamara, and Durán saw another goal disallowed for offside after he raced on to another Tielemans pass.
“I’m not in the right moment to make creative tactical changes with where we are at,” Guardiola said of his half-time change. “I can not overthink things right now.” Not that he is resting easy before Everton.
Source: theguardian.com
