Aston Villa suffered a devastating blow to their UEFA Champions League hopes with a heavy 4-1 defeat away at Premier League champions and title challengers Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola’s side, led by hat-trick hero Phil Foden, ran riot at the Etihad Stadium, causing severe problems for a heavily-rotated Villa side. Emiliano Martinez missed out through illness and irregular starters gained the nod from Unai Emery. All-action Rodri opened the scoring and Foden made sure of the points with three excellent goals. Jhon Duran had netted a brilliant equaliser for Villa but it turned out to offer very little consolation.
City, the dominant side in the opening exchanges, took a deserved lead in the 11th minute when Rodri fired home from a low Jeremy Doku cross. Nicolo Zaniolo and Lucas Digne allowed the provider too much space on the right flank, making it easy for the ball to find its target. Rodri had already seen a shot saved by Robin Olsen a few phases of play earlier, while Julian Alvarez thrashed the side netting just two minutes into the game.
Duran, rather out of nowhere, gave Villa hope just eight minutes after City’s opener. The Colombian, who had an audacious acrobatic effort saved a few moments earlier, finished an excellent counter-attacking move. Morgan Rogers drove forward and played a one-two-three with Duran before the striker passed the ball into the far corner. VAR checked for a possible offside but any infringement was soon waved away, allowing the travelling support to celebrate.
The hosts regained control after Unai Emery’s side’s leveler and former Villa captain Jack Grealish nearly sent his team back ahead. The left midfielder struck a deep cross on the volley but his shot bounced into the ground and just wide of the far post. Alvarez had a decent chance, too, the Argentine forcing Olsen to make a save with his feet after a tidy Rico Lewis set-up.
Pep Guardiola’s side recovered their advantage on the verge of half time as Foden whipped a clinical free-kick into the bottom left corner. Douglas Luiz sloppily fouled the City number 47 on the edge of the area and then the Villa wall catastrophically broke down. Zaniolo separated from Ezri Konsa at the end of the wall, allowing Foden’s effort an easy path through. Alvarez then went close to making it 3-1 with the last touch of the half but Olsen tipped the World Cup winner’s header over the bar.
City began the second period as they ended the first, on the front foot. Doku stung the gloves of Olsen just three minutes after the restart, just before Bernardo Silva forced a bizarre save off the chest and face of the Swede goalkeeper. Villa had two excellent opportunities on the break, though, as Luiz received a belated return from Moussa Diaby and tested Ortega. Clement Lenglet then headed on target from a Luiz corner but City’s glovesman denied him too.
Foden struck for a second time in the 62nd minute, taking a Rodri pass into his stride and sweeping the ball clinically into the far corner via the woodwork for 3-1. Diaby gave up trying to tackle Rodri and Luiz and Lenglet then had similar failures, giving the Spaniard time and space to pick out Foden to score.
Before you could even catch your breath, Foden completed his hat-trick with a piledriver. Villa substitute Calum Chambers gave the ball away cheaply and Foden took merely two touches before rocketing the ball into the top right corner. The England international slipped as he shot but the connection had already been made, giving Olsen absolutely no chance.
Emery had made several changes beforehand but the fresh legs didn’t have the desired impact as City were rampant. It could’ve been even more as Sergio Gomez hit the post but the hosts ended up 4-1 victors. Here are our Villa player ratings from a tricky evening in Manchester.
1. Robin Olsen - 7
Made six saves in total, stepping in well for the ill-struck Emi Martinez. The best stops were to deny Bernardo, Rodri and Alvarez. Couldn’t do much about any of the goals, with defensive failures ahead of him to blame.
2. Ezri Konsa - 6
Made his fair share of interceptions and clearances but was often beaten for skill by Grealish. Not as at fault as Zaniolo at the end of the Villa wall for Foden’s first goal, upon second look.
3. Diego Carlos - 4
Really struggled to deal with the quick feet of Alvarez, Grealish and Foden. Caught ball-watching on two or three occasions as Rodri and Foden got shots on target.
4. Clement Lenglet - 5
Often got sucked in and lunged into tackles, enabling most City attackers to run beyond several times each. Nodded a header on target but denied by Ortega. Not having Pau Torres really showed.