Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were flustered by Unai Emery’s defense-first Aston Villa on Sunday, falling 1-0 at Villa Park on a Matty Cash volley.
The delightful goal was in contrast to the rest of the contest, which saw Villa packed behind the ball and City unable to locate red-hot Erling Haaland…. at least in goals that could withstand VAR scrutiny.
MORE — Aston Villa vs Man City recap, video highlights
Haaland slid a ball home near the 90th minute but Omar Marmoush was judged to be offside before providing his would-be assist.
The rest of the service toward Haaland was disjointed and plenty of the visitors shots were blocked by brave Villa backs.
City will rue their sharpness on the day.
Pep Guardiola reaction — Manchester City boss speaks after loss at Aston Villa
On the loss: “That we are a really good team, we played a really good game but we miss again at the end — the actions when we attack the last line, the last pass, the last shot, the last cross — we need to be more present there. We started the game really well for 15, 20 minutes. They were better than us in the 3v1s, the 4v2s. We should attack the ball better, and after set pieces like they create because they are so good. In the second half we were much better, but we couldn’t score.”
What makes Villa difficult to defend: “They link very well. They attract you in high, high positions and they link behind, they have the ability to keep the ball. When you don’t win the duels, it is more difficult. … When they were in high positions [with the ball] we were not aggressive enough [in the first half]. Second half was much better.”
On the refereeing around the goal: “It was a corner, a good corner and goal,” Guardiola said with a wry smile on his face.