Aston Villa chant exposes Man City slump to test Pep Guardiola belief

Erling Haaland strained every sinew, accelerating to full pace to get to the ball ahead of his man.

Having won the foot race, there came the swing of that lethal left boot... and Manchester City briefly cleared the ball away from their own penalty area. Villa Park erupted with more noise and the home side went on the attack again.

Pep Guardiola's side have been involved in some strange games lately and this certainly ticked the box as Villa did to City in the first half what City normally do to every other team they face. The press was high, intense and precise, forcing errors from the Premier League champions near their own goal that led to numerous chances and a visiting side grateful to Ederson that they could go in level; the Brazilian made a string of saves as Villa had more shots on target in the opening 45 minutes than Tottenham or Liverpool managed over 90 against the Premier League champions.

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If City were relieved to get in at half-time with the scores level, they could not last the 90. Leon Bailey's second-half strike was enough to condemn them to four winless league games for the first time since Guardiola's first season when they were unable to win anything.

The problems with this City team are obvious. The midfield has been the key to their success in the Premier League yet while last season they entered this fixture with Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne in the middle this time they had a rusty John Stones, rookie Rico Lewis and the out-of-position Julian Alvarez.

Little wonder that the in-form Villa tore through a side not used to playing