Manchester City’s dismal run of form continued as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.
Still licking his wounds from last week’s Manchester derby defeat, Pep Guardiola made six changes to his starting line-up.
Ederson, Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias and Jeremy Doku all dropped out of the team.
Villa were also beaten in dramatic fashion last time out, surrendering a one-goal advantage in the final six minutes of their clash against Nottingham Forest, so they were keen to serve up an immediate response.
The home side started the contest on the front foot as Jhon Duran and Pau Torres forced Stefan Ortega into early saves before the former put Villa in front after 15 minutes, capping off a lovely team move.
Man City started to grow into the contest and should have gone into the break level, but Josko Gvardiol could not keep his header down from inside the box after being found by Jack Grealish.
City’s search for an equaliser saw them begin the second half with more urgency, although Villa stood firm to keep their advantage intact before heaping more misery on the defending champions 25 minutes from time.
Ex-Man City midfielder Morgan Rogers, who set up Duran’s opener, produced a surging run through the heart of the City midfield and played in John McGinn, who returned the favour for Rogers to fire home.
Villa’s second goal took the sting out of the contest as neither team was able to dominate for large spells.
Ollie Watkins was presented with an opportunity to extend the lead after replacing Duran, but he was unable to get the better of Ortega.
Phil Foden pulled one back in the penultimate minute of stoppage time as he pounced on a moment of indecisiveness from Lucas Digne to open his Premier League account for the season.
However, it was too little too late for City as they slumped to a sixth defeat in eight games. They have now won just one of their last 12 matches across all competitions.
Any hopes of a fifth straight league title have been further dampened as City now trail Liverpool by nine points despite having played two games more.
Saturday’s victory has moved Villa ahead of the defending champions in the league table, and things are looking up for them after four wins in five matches.
