Manchester City suffered their first defeat since August, losing 1-0 to Aston Villa at Villa Park thanks to a first-half goal from Matty Cash. After the knockout at Villarreal, Nico Gonzalez was only fit enough to be on the bench, so Tijani Reynders started in midfield for the first time this season. The visiting team started brightly but soon succumbed to the pressure of the home team, who looked to add to their lead with a goal from Cash.
City improved in the second half but were unable to equalize after Erling Haaland’s late shot was ruled out for offside on Omar Marmouche, missing out on a chance to keep the gap with Premier League leaders Arsenal to three points after Liverpool lost to Brentford. Here are the player ratings from Express Sport…
Donnarumma: Not good enough to prevent a goal, but made a decent save when Sancho broke through. There was little else to do. 6.
Nunez: We played solid defense, but we made too many missed passes and put unnecessary pressure on City. 5.
Stones: Didn’t live up to his midweek performance, was forced into push-ups a number of times, but City lost the ball. 5.
Diaz: He did reasonably well considering he lost pace to Watkins and recovered from a bad crash in the second half. 6.
Gvardiol: He seems to be far from his best form and is struggling both on the ball and physically. 4.
Reinders: Looked uncomfortable in an unfamiliar role and was unable to contribute at either end of the pitch. 5.
Silva: His frequent changes of position seemed to be more a result of City’s confusion than strategy, and his passes missed. 5.
Foden: He stepped up in the second half as City pressed, but unfortunately had a shot blocked, but he needs to create more chances. 6.
Bob: He looked bad and didn’t take advantage of the ball when he had it. An obvious choice for an early replacement. 4.
Sabinho: Unlucky to have two promising attempts blocked in the same attack, but his overall performance was underwhelming in terms of picking teammates. 5.
Haaland: We defended solidly in Villa’s set-pieces, but we couldn’t capitalize on our only chance to equalize. 6.
substitute
Gonzalez (for Stones, 61) brought more control to City’s game. 7.
O’Reilly (Silva, 61) Powerfully advanced on the left and caused problems for Cash. 7.
Doc (Bob, 61 years old) Made a smart play on the left side. 7.
Cerki (Lijnders, 76 years old) once again showed promise. 6.
Marmouche (Sabiño, 84): Called offside at a crucial moment. 6.
Players not used: Trafford, Ake, Luiz, Kovacic.
