Man City lost the match and lost their position to Aston Villa.

Score
Aston Villa:Bailey (74')

Man City had to go through a very tiring match with Tottenham last weekend. In this round, they have to face the "dark horse" Aston Villa. But even in the difficult match with Aston Villa, Man City can still be extremely optimistic. Because Man City has won 10 of the last 11 matches against Villa.

In addition, coach Pep Guardiola has never lost to his colleague and compatriot Unai Emery in previous meetings. However, there is a ripple in the force with Man City when Rodri was suspended for receiving 5 yellow cards. Man City lost all 3 matches that Rodri missed due to previous red cards.

Furthermore, another statistic that worries Man City is that Villa have not lost at Villa Park since the start of the new season. Against an opponent who is in form, Man City started cautiously. As for Aston Villa, they were more proactive in controlling the ball and the tempo of the match. Notably, their shot rate was overwhelming compared to Man City. That shows how much Villa wanted to beat Man City.

It wasn't until the 11th minute that Man City had a notable response. Haaland had two consecutive good chances to open the score but the Norwegian striker couldn't beat the brilliance of goalkeeper Martinez.

At the end of the first half, Aston Villa increased the pressure, threatening Man City's goal. Just a few minutes before the break, Douglas Luiz headed the ball into Man City's net after a practice-like combination, but the goal was not recognized for Aston Villa because he crossed the ball when it had gone out of bounds.

The second half began with Aston Villa stepping up their attack while Man City struggled to find a way through. In the 73rd minute, McGinn turned the ball past Dias in the box but his close-range shot went wide.

1 minute later, Aston Villa fans finally had a moment of joy. In the 74th minute, Bailey turned the ball to eliminate Gvardiol and then fired a shot that hit Dias's leg and changed trajectory into the net, leaving goalkeeper Ederson helpless, opening the score for Aston Villa. Man City were even lucky to escape a goal late in the match when Douglas Luiz's curling shot hit the post. This was also the only goal of this confrontation.

Winning 3 points at home, Aston Villa took over Man City's 3rd place in the 2023/24 Premier League standings with 32 points. Meanwhile, Man City, with their 3rd consecutive winless match in the Premier League, dropped to 4th place with 30 points.

Line-up

Aston Villa:Martinez, Digne (Moreno 90'), Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Konsa, McGinn, Tielemans (Ramsey 85'), Bailey (Diaby 85'), Kamara, Luiz, Watkins (Duran 90')
Man City:Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Lewis (Nunes 68'), Bernardo Silva, Foden (Bobb 73'), Haaland, Alvarez (Kovacic 68')