Jack Grealish was booed by Aston Villa fans in Man City’s defeat at Villa Park
Aston Villa won consecutive home league games against Man City for the first time since April 1993 after beating Pep Guardiola’s side 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Jhon Duran broke the deadlock early on by finishing past Stefan Ortega after being picked out by Morgan Rogers inside the box. The former Man City man then turned scorer, bagging Villa’s second just after the hour mark before Phil Foden halved City’s deficit in the third of four minutes added on at the end of the second half.
Villa have now defeated the reigning top-flight champions at home in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1975-76 (against Derby) and 1976-77 (against Liverpool). The victory lifted them above City in the league table ahead of facing Newcastle at St. James’ Park on Boxing Day and then hosting Brighton before the New Year.
Emery struck the perfect Villa blend
Emery has strength in depth and a number of options to play in different ways. Against City, the Villa boss fielded a perfect blend of players in a system he knew would be able to not only contain but also attack City in the right moments.
It was the first time in which Boubacar Kamara and £50m summer arrival Amadou Onana started together. That allowed Youri Tielemans to play higher up the pitch with more freedom in a role which he operated effectively in last term.
John McGinn had plenty of joy on the left with the space afforded to him between Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol, while Morgan Rogers – on the opposite flank – was unplayable at times. Just like in the 2-0 defeat against Arsenal back in August, Rogers had opposition players hanging off his back as he progressed up the pitch with the ball under his control.
He had final product too as he delivered a goal and an assist in a Premier League game for the first time since joining Villa last year. At the top of the pitch, Duran continued to impress, not only by scoring, but in how he led the line and worked hard out of possession.
In defence, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa kept Erling Haaland quiet, limiting him to only 18 touches in the 90 minutes, 11 of which were in the first period. For that, credit also goes to Matty Cash and Lucas, who helped stop the supply to the big Norwegian.
It goes without saying that the game plan Emery deployed for Saturday won’t be one he can use against every team, but it showed the versatility he can call on. Leon Bailey was coming back from injury and Diego Carlos was sidelined with a knock, meaning Ezri Konsa and Cash both had to play in the back four, but those restrictions weren’t to the deficit of the team due to its depth.
On the right, Emery turned to McGinn, who has earned lots of praise from the Villa manager because of his ability to play across numerous roles. Kamara and Onana gave Tielemans the keys to pick the lock further forward, meaning Rogers moved out wide. Five or six of Villa’s players can be used in a variety of positions and are able to combine to great effect.
City frustration proved Villa’s strong management
Villa needed that second goal to kill City’s confidence and they got it through Rogers when he turned away from Kyle Walker and drove up the pitch before laying the ball off to John McGinn, getting it back inside the box and beating Ortega.
The game then drifted away from City until a mistake from Digne allowed Foden to score from close range. But before that, Villa stifled their visitors and really should have recorded what would have been a successive home clean sheets in the league for the first time since beating City and Arsenal back-to-back in December of last year.
As the clock ticked into the 87th minute, Grealish let his frustrations get the better of him when he kicked a lump out of his mate McGinn. It was a needless foul to make as he left the Villa captain in a heap on the floor. Chants of ‘super John McGinn’ rang around the stadium as Grealish lost his cool.
Really, what Grealish did there proved Emery right about how his Villa side are building strong foundations for success at Villa Park. Now eight league matches unbeaten in front of home fans, and after winning their last three, they’re showing effective game management to see matches out after demonstrating quality in the final to take the lead. City were frustrated by Villa and these are the hallmarks Emery’s side showed when they last won three home league games in a row 12 months ago in a run of 15 such victories on the spin between March and December.
“Always we are trying to be positive, in some matches we are maybe not performing as we want, but today we performed,” Emery said after full-time. “We are feeling strong, here we played the first half very well, in the second half we kept possession more and getting in the box to score the second goal, we imposed and dominated more.”
A day to forget for Grealish
It was a day to forget for Grealish, who made his first start at Villa Park since playing his final game in claret and blue against Chelsea on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign. He had only played four minutes in City’s previous three visits to B6.
The former Villa skipper has now gone 35 appearances without a goal for Man City in all competitions, but that wasn’t the sole reason for his anger during and after Saturday’s match.
He impressed in the first half, causing problems for Matty Cash on his wing, but lacked end product. In the second half, Cash had more support from his teammates. Booed throughout, it quickly became a difficult afternoon for Grealish.
At half-time he had a confrontation with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez as the two went down the tunnel. Even after putting McGinn on the floor, Grealish still had a smile on his face as he went to take set-pieces, but after full-time he reacted to a Villa fan giving him some stick.
Whatever was said, and hopefully it didn’t cross the line, a picture of Grealish holding up three fingers – alluding to the number of league titles he has won away from Villa – won’t vanish. It’s now a stain. “He left ’cause you’re ****” was heard from the City end on a couple of occasions, but as Villa were looking certain to leapfrog Guardiola’s side in the table after Rogers doubled the lead in the second half, “he left ’cause you’re ****” was the chant Villa supporters sang at City fans instead.
It was a stunning performance from Rogers, who once again lit up Villa Park. Emery’s side had to be strong in their defending and keep their shape, which allowed Rogers to express himself in the final third.
He was brave in possession and always willing to take a risk to commit defenders and back himself to roll them and power further forward. He is so hard to step when he goes through the gears.
“He played fantastic,” Emery said of Rogers after full-time. “He is very important. We are getting the performance back through him because he links strikers with midfielders and wingers.
“He was fantastic in the second-half, connecting with strikers and scoring the goals. He has to add goals to his numbers, and today he was fantastic.”
No.9 role is Duran’s to lose
How Rogers is linking with Duran is very encouraging. They’re forming a strong relationship on the pitch already, despite starting together in only three league games this season.
Rogers has, of course, played from the off in all 23 matches Villa have played in the league and the Champions League this term. Duran, meanwhile, has now scored in each of the six starts he has made in all competitions this season.
Only Jamal Musiala (nine) has netted more goals than the seven league goals Duran has bagged in the big-five European leagues in 2024-25, among all players aged 21 or under.
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Jack Grealish of Manchester City
The number nine position is now Duran’s to lose under Emery, who opted to keep Ollie Watkins on the bench for the match with City.
“We are in the process with the players keeping their consistency of playing,” Emery said about his two strikers. “Jhon Duran played fantastic. Ollie Watkins is fantastic as well. It is very important for us. Of course you have to work with both strikers, sometimes they play together. I am very happy with them.”
Tielemans thrives with Onana and Kamara protection
Tielemans won the Premier League player of the match award for yet another excellent display. Such a silky footballer, Tielemans is neither the quickest or strongest, but he’s always ahead of his opponent by how he reads the game and sees pictures.
Dancing out of challenges in midfield, he had more freedom to play than usual as he had the protection of a strong double pivot of Onana and Kamara behind him.
“We played really well, some really good football and defended when we needed to,” Tielemans said on TNT Sports. “I’m not here to make the headlines, they (Man CIty) are a really good side and you have to be aware of their threat. They are on a bad run, I’m sure they will get out of it”.
Speaking of his ball to Rogers for Villa’s first goal, the Belgian added: “I saw the space and just tried to pass it as good as I could, so I’m really happy about it.
“I was a bit freer in the role my manager asked me to play in. The fact we were on the ball more meant that we could play our game.
“It is always calculating the risk, if you want to stay on the ball and be brave. But we really deserved the win. We showed we can play good football.”
