Aston Villa 3-2 Manchester City; Villians stage an upset as Pellegrini is left shell shocked

Weimann celebrates his winner against Manchester City

The visitors had an instant reply as Edin Dzeko put his team back on top with an improvised back header from a Samir Nasri corner. But Aston Villa were still seeing a lot of the ball and were matching the stats of City. What changed the face of the game was the involvement of Andreas Weimann in Villa’s passing lanes. Lambert instructed his team to overload the left wing of City. On one wing, it was Ahmadi, Delph, Bacuna and Weimann taking on Kolarov, Toure and Nasri. Pellegrini, seeking better discipline on that wing, introduced Jesus Navas for Samir Nasri. Navas slotted in in his customary right wing position and James Milner moved to the left wing.

City were again dominating the play now, as they had a direct runner in Navas on the right wing. So, Villa opted the direct route to unsettle the rhythm City had just generated. Kozak moved into deeper positions, taking on Yaya Toure and trying to drag Nastasic out of position. Weimann on the other hand, was making runs behind Kozak searching for the headed flicks from his teammate. A foul on Weimann outside the box, resulted in a free kick which was converted beautifully by Bacuna into a picturesque goal. Joe Hart was motionless. Pellegrini introduced Jovetic for Dezko, hoping to add a bit more intelligent movement upfront.

But all hell broke loose when Weimann was one-on-one with Joe Hart in the blink of an eye and helped the ball past the England No.1 and the goal line. Brad Guzan claimed the assist, as his quick-fire long ball bypassed every City player. Weimann won the race against Nastasic and Kompany and outfoxed the keeper to score an unforgettable goal for his team. The whole buildup was strikingly similar to Manuel Neuer’s goal kick which lead to a goal in the 2010 World Cup. The fact that the goal had come in the after math of an open play move by City, raises questions on the positioning of their midfielders.

The end

City tried their best to salvage the match with a draw, but nothing would break the now resolute Villa defense. Jordan Bowery was sent in for a limping Weimann to add more height in attack. Villa took the direct route whenever the opportunity presented itself and defended in numbers to claim their first home victory of the season. Sheer persistence and a fair amount of luck were the prime factors in their victory.

Pellegrini will go back to the drawing board to work on his team’s defensive shortcomings which were the very case in their downfall last season. The communication between the centre backs and the full backs needs to get better and the centre backs themselves have to be more careful in their positioning while defending counters. If this problem isn’t sorted quickly, City may fall behind the London clubs in the race for the title.

Statistically, Man City dug themselves into the match completely. They had an insane 39 crosses into the box, 21 shots of which 7 were on target, 13 corners and 34 headed duels of which they won 20. It was a commanding performance from the City team, but 99% of work doesn’t get you victories, the other 1% is as important the rest of the 99. And, Aston Villa capitalized on that minor 1%, to earn a memorable victory.

It is difficult to judge the best player on the pitch when there is such a drastic turnaround of events in a very short span of time. Going by the statistics, Yaya Toure was the best player on the pitch by miles. His pass completion rate of 94% and accuracy on the long balls coupled with the first half goal makes him the player of the match, but only for the losing side.