BBC pundit ‘really surprised’ by what Pep Guardiola did in Man City defeat, Aston Villa ‘took advantage brilliantly’
Aston Villa continued their impressive run of form under Unai Emery as they dispatched title challengers Manchester City.
Matty Cash’s first-half strike was enough to secure all three points for the Midlands side.
Villa are now up to eighth in the Premier League, and are recovering well from a very poor start to the season.
As for Man City, they have dropped down to fifth, and are now six points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
Man City exploited by Aston Villa
In the first half of the contest, Aston Villa consistently broke through the Man City midfield and created an overload against their back four.
Emery’s side had six shots before the break, including Cash’s effort which opened the scoring, and were on top against the eight-time Premier League champions.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy highlighted how Tijjani Reijnders’ lack of experience playing as a defensive midfielder was exploited by Villa.
He said: “I was really surprised to see the teamsheet. Pep had three orthodox defensive midfielders on the bench, and he decided to play Reijnders in there. Not only was he playing just one holding midfielder, but he chose someone who’s not used to playing the role.
“Villa took advantage of it brilliantly, with the quality players they have who like to play in the pockets. We know that Rogers and Buendia love to play in those pockets, and Reijnders wasn’t spotting it. He’s not really got that defensive awareness needed.
“He’s not used to playing in that position, and it takes time to become skilled in that role.”
Man City continue to struggle without Rodri
Rodri missed the majority of last season with an ACL injury, and Man City struggled to cope without the Balon d’Or winner in their side.
They finished a lowly third in the Premier League, 13 points adrift of title winners Liverpool at the end of the campaign.
Despite returning at the beginning of this season, Rodri is now out of action again, after picking up a suspected hamstring injury against Brentford.
It is clear that Man City are lost without the Spaniard in midfield, and his fitness is imperative if they are to have any chance of winning back their Premier League title.