Two Man City players sum up their struggles as Aston Villa condemn champions to another loss

ASTON VILLA 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY: Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers both found the back of the net for the hosts as things go from bad to worse for Pep Guardiola’s side

Manchester City’s season just goes from bad to worse as Aston Villa inflicted another defeat on the champions with an impressive performance.

John Duran and Morgan Rogers were on target in either half as Unai Emery’s men saw off Pep Guardiola’s side, with their much changed starting XI unable to arrest their slide down the table.

City’s hangover is as good as two months old and that was apparent in the opening minute as Josko Gvardiol was dispossessed and allowed Duran a shot from distance, which was saved by Stefan Ortega, stepping in for the injured Ederson. Seconds later and the goalkeeper was needed again to impressively stop a Pau Torres header.

The visitors’ possession resulted in few clear cut opportunities and Villa were able to take advantage on the break as a sensational through ball from Youri Tielemans set Rogers away, before he squared the ball for Duran to finish first time.

City looked devoid of ideas once they made it into the Villa third as Emery’s compact side snuffed out any opportunities. The former Arsenal boss, having waited so long for a win over Guardiola, now has two in his last three meetings following last season’s win over the champions at Villa Park.

Duran rifled home a second early in the second-half, but the flag was quickly raised to end his celebrations as Villa continued to cause numerous problems on the break. Rogers then hit the post, but made amends shortly after as he finished a neat move to all but kill the game against the team he once played for.

Phil Foden landed a late consolation for City – his first of the season – as he finished well past Emi Martinez. It did little to help his team’s fortunes – who sit nine points off leaders Liverpool having played two games more – and time will tell if it does anything for Foden’s personal struggles.

A tale of two men

Rewind a little over eight months and it was City inflicting pain on Villa with a 4-1 success at the Etihad – but it goes to show how much can change, especially when your top individuals go missing or indeed are missing.

On that midweek evening Foden, en route to winning the PFA Player of the Year award, scored a stunning hat-trick whilst Rodri, who would go onto win the Ballon d’Or, also scored for the hosts.

Now Guardiola finds himself without his Golden Ball winner whilst his academy star is looking a shadow of the player he was. Rodri’s absence has been cited as perhaps the biggest reason behind City’s decline as they’re without anyone who can do the job he performs so well.

Foden meanwhile is desperately searching for the form he showed last season. Midway through the first-half the TNT Sports coverage bought up a concerning stat. It detailed the players in the top flight to have had the most shots without scoring a single goal.

Foden sat top of that list with 25 efforts and counting. In stoppage time he finally landed the goal he’s been so desperate to notch, but it will feel like the littlest of wins.

Go back to that April evening at the Etihad and it was Duran who scored an equaliser for Villa, albeit their parity was short lived. The striker was then trying to stake his case all while Ollie Watkins made it clear he was the main man for Unai Emery.

Now, as 2024 comes to a close, it is the Colombian who is showing himself to be the one worthy of leading the line. He scored his 12th goal of the campaign as Watkins watched on from the bench.

If the last meeting between the two sides in the spring was a tale of two men, each at the peak of their powers, it seems as if December’s clash was similarly about Foden and Rodri. One man proving his brilliance with his absence, the other simply a shadow of himself, although he will hope his late strike can be the start of his own revival.

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