The Norwegian striker had two efforts within thirty seconds of each other in the eleventh minute, but both of them went wide of the target as City was completely outplayed by its high-flying hosting team.

Athletes who On Wednesday night, the high-flying Aston Villa club crushed Manchester City with a resounding victory, which resulted in Manchester City losing even more ground in the competition for the Premier League crown. The fact that the score is 1-0 does not capture the entire picture.

After 11 minutes, Emiliano Martinez made two superb saves to deny Erling Haaland twice in a row after he was put through on goal. This was perhaps City’s best start of the game, which occurred after the team had been working difficult throughout the entire match. In actuality, that was the only opportunity they had to score a goal throughout the entire ninety minutes of play.

When Villa had the ball all the time, they were able to intimidate City more than they could have imagined because their best players made easy errors.

In point of fact, as the second half progressed, it appeared as though Villa was the only team that had the potential to score, and Leon Bailey did exactly that. His effort from a distance was deflected off Ruben Dias and into the back of the net.

The team managed by Guardiola turned in a terrible performance, and as a result, they are currently in fourth place, ahead of Villa in third place and six points behind Arsenal in first place.

On the basis of Villa Park, we evaluate City’s players…

Ederson (7/10):

Denied Torres with an excellent save and was repeatedly called into action, keeping City in the game. Beaten by the deflection on Bailey’s shot. Blameless.

Kyle Walker (4/10):

Due to the fact that Watkins and McGinn employed a powerful squeeze, I did not win many duels during the night.

Down the right side, there were times when they struggled, and they gave the ball away many times. Villa kept him in his own half, which significantly reduced the efficiency of his play.

Ruben Dias (5/10):

He made a number of outstanding interceptions, but he did not appear to be in a particularly comfortable position against Ollie Watkins. He also diverted Bailey’s attempt beyond Ederson. A portion of the performance that was being performed in front of him caused him to seem shocked.

6 out of 10 for Josko Gvardiol:

During the first half, made a tackle that prevented Youri Tielemans from scoring, but only after he had previously given up possession of the ball. the player continued to make daring blocks and appeared to take pleasure in the fast-paced nature of the game.

A difficult match against Bailey, in which he was defeated by the deceptive winger the majority of the time but not once.

John Stones (5/10):

Just before the halftime break, a cynical challenge was scheduled to take place. When he was able to, he moved into the middle of the field, but he was unable to exert a significant amount of effect on the play because City was frequently overrun.

The backup striker, the center defender, the right back, or the holding midfielder. There are a few indications of rustiness, but City is a better club when he is on the field.

Manuel Akanji (5/10):

Alert to cut out a number of dangerous situations

Alongside Stones in a more advanced role, but could not cope with Villa’s pace and was run absolutely ragged.

Bernardo Silva (5/10):

One of his worst performances for a while, needlessly giving the ball away and making poor decisions to put City under pressure

Always effective on the ball but seemed slightly uncomfortable on the right, and was marshalled well by Digne.

Rico Lewis (5/10):

Constantly on the move and willing to receive the ball. His influence waned, and he was booked for an obvious shirt pull on Douglas Luiz as he broke away and was subbed after the hour.

Phil Foden (6/10):

Before being replaced by another early substitute, he played in Haaland early on and demonstrated more than any other forward.

His evening was really summed up by an airshot, despite the fact that he had some good touches, as he was unable to get the final ball correct. With twenty minutes remaining, I filled in for Oscar Bobb.

Julian Alvarez (4/10):

Did his best to drop in and link play but was feeding off scraps and could not find Haaland with any regularity. Subbed. A frustrating evening.

Erling Haaland (4/10):

A lot of effort was put in defensively, but other than that, it was difficult to be on the same wavelength as Foden.

Initially, he was denied by a remarkable double save made by Martinez, but that was the only influence he had. His shots were taken in the eleventh minute, and after that, he was completely unnoticeable. This was mostly owing to the excellent defense that Villa displayed throughout the match.

Subs

Mateo Kovacic (5/10):

On for Alvarez. Could not stem the tide.

Matheus Nunes (5/10):

Replaced Lewis. Barely able to touch the ball.

Oscar Bobb (5/10):

On for Foden. Had no impact.