Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City: Josep Guardiola’s side are now six points off the title pace after Matty Cash’s first-half goal sealed a big win for the Villans.
There is no need to score a goal and cause a raucous celebration, as in modern football.
A standard tackle on the touchline could result in a fist bump these days. But Pau Torres deserved all the emotional celebrations that came his way midway through the second half when he managed to deflect Sabinho’s shot on goal over his own crossbar.
And that piece of defense was emblematic of Aston Villa’s performance, which put Manchester City’s rejuvenation talk into context.
This still doesn’t seem like a City team that will be facing title contenders this season.
And, of course, this defeat highlighted the obvious. Even if Erling Haaland fails to score (this break ended his scoring streak at 12 games), City are unlikely to have a valuable alternative threat.
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That’s quite an indictment for a club that spent this much money on players.
Haaland’s header was met by Emiliano Martinez, squandering a one-on-one chance, but that was it.
If they can keep Haaland quiet like Torres et al., they will have won a large part of the battle against City.
And although there are signs of improvement, City are still waiting for a defensive accident to happen, although there was also an unlucky element to the first goal conceded.
Firstly, Michael Oliver took a long time to decide that Matheus Nunez was awarded a corner kick when he was clearly fouled by Lucas Digne. Secondly, Matty Cash’s strike deprived Haaland of a crucial deflection.
To add insult to injury, Haaland had a surprisingly weak finish with only Martinez able to beat him.
But Guardiola must have been concerned about how mediocre his team looked, as well as the weakness at the back.
After a calmly encouraging start, there was a predictability to their passing sequences that Villa felt comfortable reading.
It goes without saying that City missed Kevin De Bruyne’s creativity and his game-changing eye for the ball, but there were precious little deviations from routine passing.
This team was difficult to break down, and they were very impressive not only in counter attacks but also in defense.
They could have had a more convincing win if Morgan Rogers had been outstanding.
They showed the odd scrape – the wonderful Torres clearance was one example, the Ross Barkley block another – but there was never any panic in Villa’s standings.
And Haaland’s afternoon summed up when he took Omar Marmouche’s pass, but when he looked up after colliding painfully with the uprights, the assistant referee correctly told Oliver that the provider was marginally offside.
In the remaining minutes, Guardiola brought on all five substitutes and Haaland had to be dragged around the field.
Villa Park rejoiced with appropriate joy as Oliver announced the time, and Haaland trudged over to the stragglers in the visiting section, thanked them before limping towards the tunnel.
If he misses the game, City will have to find a way to win games and score goals without him.
But even if he doesn’t miss a game, that’s something City will have to do anyway.
Because no one man can win a title.
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