Sports
“What really happened against Manchester City” — Unai Emery
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola‘s arrogance about winning a 4th consecutive premier league title was given a rude awakening by Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side on Wednesday in a stunning dominance that wasn’t reflected by the score line post-match.
The match ended with a lone goal, courtesy of Leon Bailey’s deflected strike, that gave Villa a well-deserved three points.
Aston Villa coach, Unai Emery, speaking after the match, lauded his team’s remarkable performance, attributing their success to seizing control of the game for the entirety of the 90 minutes.
“Playing against Man City, who won the title, Champions League too. It’s a difficult challenge to take control of the game for 90 minutes but we did it,” Emery expressed during the post-match interview.
Highlighting Villa’s dominance, Emery remarked,
“We created lots of chances and we controlled the attack in the high press. We were believing.”
However, he remained cautious, emphasizing the need for balance and focus on the upcoming challenges despite the jubilation in the dressing room.
On the opposing end, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged Villa’s superior performance. Guardiola conceded,
“Aston Villa were better than us. We struggled to make some process and after, especially when they defended with a medium block, we didn’t find the moments behind.”
With this defeat marking City’s fourth consecutive league game without a win, Guardiola pointed out the difficulties his team faced against Villa’s physicality and control over various aspects of the game.
The result reshuffled the Premier League standings, with Manchester City slipping to fourth place, trailing league leaders Arsenal by six points.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s impressive victory propelled them into the third spot, overtaking Guardiola’s squad in the rankings.
