Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City made it four Premier League games without a win as they went down 1-nil to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Unai Emery’s side were full value for their win as they dominated the European champions for the majority of the game. With Rodri suspended the champions slumped to their fourth defeat of the season without their most important player.
It was easily one of Manchester City’s poorest performances for some time. The manner of the defeat will leave Pep Guardiola with plenty to ponder before they face Luton Town on Sunday. The loss sees City drop to fourth on the Premier League table, 6 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
City player ratings:
Ederson-8/10: Made a string of fantastic saves to keep his side in the game. Could do nothing about Villa’s goal. One of the few City players who could hold his head high.
Kyle Walker-4/10: Another off-colour performance from the City captain. Is starting to look tired after playing so much football of late.
Ruben Dias-7/10: By far his side’s best outfield player. Threw himself into challenges and looked like he was at his best. Unlucky with the deflection but some of his teammates needed to follow his lead.
Manuel Akanji- 6/10: Toiled away manfully but wasn’t at his best. Wasn’t City’s worst player of the night.
Josko Gvardiol- 5.5/10: An erratic game from Gvardiol. Defended well on occasions but was turned inside out for Leon Bailey’s winner.
John Stones-5/10: He looked rusty on his return from injury. Will be better after getting 90 minutes into his legs but looked off the pace against a hungry Aston Villa side.
Rico Lewis-4/10: Too often caught in possession by Aston Villa’s press. Couldn’t get into the game before being substituted.
Bernardo Silva-5/10: Couldn’t affect the game. Started on the right wing but was barely sighted in the first half. Switched centrally in the second half but couldn’t get going.
Phil Foden-5/10: One nice run early. Couldn’t get into the game as Villa dominated for large patches before being taken off.
Julian Alarez-4/10: An off day for the World Cup winner. Nothing he tried came off before he was substituted.
Erling Haaland- 4/10: Saw City’s only two chances of the game saved by Martinez. Had no service at all after that as the City midfield was soundly beaten.
Substitutes:
Matheus Nunes-5.5/10: Tried hard when he came but looked like he needs minutes to find his touch.
Mateo Kovacic-5/10: A similar story to Matheus Nunes. Needs minutes to rediscover the form he showed at the start of the season.
Oscar Bobb-5/10: Put himself about when he came on. Tracked back well but that’s not his game. A learning experience for the youngster.
