Aston Villa leapfrogged Manchester City into third place with a club-record 14th home league win in a row, beating the champions more comfortably than the 1-0 margin suggests as Unai Emery finally overcame Pep Guardiola at the 14th attempt.
Villa remain just four points behind leaders Arsenal and can cut the gap to a single point on Saturday when they host the Gunners at fortress Villa Park in a mouthwatering duel.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
How the match unfolded
In a bright start, both goalkeepers did well to keep the opening 15 minutes goalless. Ederson saved well from Pau Torres, before Emiliano Martinez made two great saves in quick succession to deny Erling Haaland.
Those proved to be the champions' only two shots of the match, while Villa racked up 22 attempts, the most shots Man City have conceded in a Premier League match under Guardiola.
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Villa had the ball in the net when Douglas Luiz rose highest to head in from Lucas Digne’s cross, but the goal was ruled out because Digne had been unable to keep the ball in play.
The chances kept coming for Villa after half-time and in the 74th minute they finally made one of them count through Leon Bailey.
On the counter-attack, Bailey drove at the heart of Man City’s defence and saw his shot deflect off Ruben Dias and loop over Ederson for his fifth league goal of the season, sending Villa Park into delirium.
Douglas Luiz very nearly doubled the lead but his curling strike from the edge of the box cannoned off the right post.
City were well below par and are now winless in four league matches, remaining on 30 points, now six points off the top.
Next five Premier League fixtures
Did you know?
Aston Villa have won each of their last 14 home games in the Premier League, equalling a club record for consecutive home victories in league competition (previously done in 1931 and 1903).
Manchester City are winless in their last four Premier League matches (D3 L1), equalling their longest run without a league victory under Pep Guardiola (also four games in March-April 2017).
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery picked up his first ever victory against Man City boss Pep Guardiola, on what was his 14th attempt at doing so. Before tonight, Guardiola was the manager he had faced most often without winning in his career (13 matches – D4 L9).
Manchester City attempted just two shots in this match, with both of those coming in the 11th minute. It’s the fewest shots ever attempted by a Pep Guardiola team in a match within Europe’s big-five leagues, while the 22 from Aston Villa was the joint-most faced by a Guardiola side in the same period (tonight being his 535th such game).
Aston Villa won possession in the final third 13 times against Manchester City, the most ever by an opposition team against the Citizens in a Premier League game during Pep Guardiola’s time in charge.
Deflected strike the difference as City suffer defeat at Villa