21 December 2024
Aston Villa 2 Man City 1
Unai Emery’s side welcomed Man City to Villa Park for a crucial match. Both of these teams had gone on dreadful runs that had seriously dented their ambitions for the season. As a result, the pair needed nothing short of victory in this game if they were to get things back on track. It could prove a springboard to the winners, however, defeat would ask serious questions of either manager.
Grealish made a rare start for the visitors against his old club. If you look at his stats since being at Man City, the £100m spent on him seemed just as big of a waste of money as Rishi Sunak’s planned HS2 rail network that ironically would have decimated this part of the country. Maybe if he ever decides to knock football on the head, there could be room in a Conservative government for Pep.
A terrible back pass from Gvardiol gifted the ball to McGinn. He spotted the run of Duran but he could not beat Ortega in the Man City goal. To his credit, it was a good save from the German to deny him. From the resulting corner, Torres’ near post header was somehow clawed out of the goal by the City stopper. Villa felt it had crossed the line but the technology disagreed.
Moments later, Tielemans played a sublime pass through the Man City defence. Rogers ran onto it and made a beeline for the goal. He then unselfishly squared the ball to Duran, who slotted past Ortega to give Unai Emery’s side the lead. Villa Park erupted as the hosts broke the deadlock. The visitors were struggling to cope with the onslaught.
A rare glimpse of goal came when Foden managed to get a shot away in the box. Martinez got down well to tip it around the post. This was proving to be another one of those games where the defending champions were considering putting in a missing person’s report for Haaland, who apparently was on the pitch during this encounter.
Just before the interval Grealish, who was being booed by the home fans like he had turned up in a Birmingham top, put a great cross into the box. It was met by Gvardiol but he could not keep his header down as it sailed over the bar. It was a huge chance for the visitors to get back on level terms and had Guardiola feeling a bit ‘scratchy’ on the touchline.
At the half-time whistle, a fracas seemed to kick-off with Martinez and the City players. Grealish and Haaland were involved as the players headed into the changing rooms. With their form resembling that of the Faroe Islands currently, it seemed Guardiola’s players were the ones who were finding it extremely difficult to ‘stay humble’.
After the break, Villa countered as a Man City attack broke down. McGinn fed it into the path of Cash who had made a run into the box but he stupidly went for goal when he had plenty of options, only to find the side netting. The Scottish midfielder immediately told his teammate what he thought of that choice as he gestured what he should have actually done.
Soon after Villa thought they had doubled their lead. Duran ran through on goal and made no mistake in drilling the ball past Ortega. Sadly for the striker it was to be ruled out for offside. The hosts were piling on the pressure and Guardiola’s side were struggling to cope. Their fans would no doubt point at the missing Rodri for this but their problems currently seem far bigger than that.
As the hosts came forward again, Rogers weaved his way past defenders in the box before pulling the trigger. His shot had Ortega beaten but struck the bottom of the post and went wide. A second Aston Villa goal seemed imminent for some time but you wondered if they did not get it, whether they were going to pay the ultimate price.
Rogers had proved to be a constant thorn in the side of the visitors. Ironic really considering he learnt his trade in the Man City academy before being sold. You could make some side, that would probably challenge for the Premier League title, with the players that Guardiola’s club had seen fit to sell at one stage or another.
Tielemans then made a run to drag defenders with him, allowing McGinn some space to cut inside. He spotted the run of Rogers, who dribbled into the box before getting a left-footed shot away. It had Ortega well beaten and nestled into the far corner of the goal. The stadium rejoiced as the hosts got that second goal that their efforts had more than warranted.
Nobody, even in their wildest dreams, had predicted this fall from grace for the champions. It seemed to coincide with the announcement that Oasis were reforming ironically. Fans of rival clubs were enjoying every minute of it however. All apart from Man Utd that is, their problems seem to dwarf those of their neighbours week in, week out.
Deep into added time, City managed to pull a goal back through Foden. That said, Digne played a huge part in the goal. Instead of clearing the ball in the box, he tripped over it and gifted it back to the midfielder. He slotted it past Martinez at his near post to give them a faint glimmer of hope but it all proved to be too little, too late.
Aston Villa took all the points and nobody could deny them this based on their performance. The capitulation of Man City continues and the only thing that would seemingly end it would be to go all Todd Boehly in the January transfer window. That is very unlikely due to the Premier League charges they have had to answer for the last three months.
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