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#3 Aston Villa continue their underperformance in the second half of the season
Aston Villa took the lead against league leaders Manchester City but eventually returned empty-handed from the game.
A team that beat Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester City and shared the spoils with Chelsea have struggled to get going in the second half of the season.
Dean Smith's men went from fighting for survival in 2019 to aiming for a spot in Europe last year, the improvement witnessed at Villa being quite surreal. But their intensity and competitiveness have dropped down, with the injury to Jack Grealish not making things any easy.
Aston Villa have won just twice in their last ten Premier League games and eight of their last twenty. For a team wishing to finish mid-table, that is a decent return. But Aston Villa could've achieved more, given they have decent squad depth, considering the investments they made in quality players like Bertrand Traore, Matt Targett and Ollie Watkins, to name a few.
#4 Is the red card a blessing in disguise for John Stones?
The 26-year-old was sent off for a reckless standing tackle on Jacob Ramsey, putting his team under pressure as Manchester City could have slumped to consecutive Premier League defeats. The visitors, however, secured all three points, and the red card might have been a blessing in disguise for John Stones.
Pep Guardiola's rotation is unbelievably unpredictable. The only regular in his team throughout the season has been Ederson in goal, Ruben Dias in defence, Rodri in midfield and Bernardo Silva, to a certain extent. The former Barcelona manager loves to rotate his players, so with the key clash against PSG coming up in the Champions League semi-finals, Stones has earned himself a week off on the sidelines.
Aymeric Laporte is likely to start the EFL cup final against Tottenham Hotspur alongside Ruben Dias. After three days of that game, they travel to Paris. Stones would be fresh for the PSG game, and that could augur well for Manchester City's hopes of returning from the French capital with a positive result.
#5 Bernardo Silva produces a 'Man of the Match' performance
While Phil Foden and Rodri got their names on the scoresheet, the goals came from the composure, technique and class of Bernardo Silva, who got the better of Aston Villa's defence. With 86 touches, three key passes, three big chances created, five dribbles and five duels won, Bernardo Silva, who also produced two assists, had a stellar outing.
Pep Guardiola has seemed to prefer the likes of Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan over the Portuguese. But Silva has already taken Sterling's place in the team, while Foden likes to play as a left-winger.
Manchester City have won games without a striker and defensive midfielder and have also deployed inverted full-backs at times. The tactical nous of Pep Guardiola is impeccable, and Bernardo Silva is a player who has truly flourished under the Spaniard.
