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Second-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan earned Manchester City a hard-fought 2-0 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. The result saw Pep Guardiola’s men overtake Leicester City at the top of the current Premier League standings.
The hosts, who enjoyed the majority of the possession in the first half, struggled to break down an extremely well-organized Villa outfit that formed an extremely effective defensive shield in front of their goal.
After a similarly bright start to the second half, City finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute. Rodri dispossessed Tyrone Mings on the edge of the Villa penalty area before setting up Silva, who fired a clinical left-footed effort past the impressive Emiliano Martinez.
Gundogan then sewed up the points from the penalty spot after Matty Cash was adjudged to have handled in the box. The German calmly sent his penalty down the middle of the goal.
The win sees Manchester City go top of the league table on goal difference. Their local rivals Manchester United have the opportunity to overtake them with a win over Fulham later on.
On that note, here are the five major talking points from Manchester City’s eventful 2-0 home win over Aston Villa.
#1 Aston Villa were finally able to field their first team again
No team in the English top-flight has been as severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean Smith’s side have fallen behind their contemporaries after an outbreak at their training camp left them unable to take to the field for almost three weeks.
As a result, this game against City was just Villa’s third game this month. The New Year’s Day encounter against the other Manchester club and the FA Cup clash against Liverpool - where they fielded their academy products - being their other two games of 2021.
While the senior squad have had the advantage of an unexpected break in the middle of a quite hectic season, they have built up a bit of a backlog of fixtures going into the second half of the season.
However, a couple of extra midweek fixtures to get back on level terms is not likely to be as much of a problem this season, with the schedule more congested than it has ever been.
The Villa players might even benefit from the extra rest in January while their peers plow on - a factor that might give them a slight advantage going forward.
#2 Manchester City’s run of form sends an ominous message for the rest of the league
The victory against Aston Villa makes it nine wins in a row for Pep Guardiola’s side. Manchester City last dropped points in the league all the way back in mid-December and tasted defeat in late November.
What makes their run of form even more impressive are the amount of clean sheets that they have racked up along the way. The new-look Manchester City defense has looked virtually unbreachable in recent months.
A shaky start to the season gave rise to conversations that Manchester City might not be in the title race this season. It even led to rumors of Guardiola’s impending exit. However, the former champions have made a remarkable return to form.
As such, given Manchester City’s current form, it would take a Herculean effort for opponents to stop them, which is why they have suddenly risen to the status of title favorites.
#3 The Aston Villa defense deserves a lot of praise
Coming into this game, the defensive unit in the spotlight was that of Manchester City, with the duo of John Stones and Ruben Dias having completely transformed a leaky backline into a virtually impregnable barrier.
However, Aston Villa gave almost as good as they got to Manchester City in this encounter. Their entire backline and goalkeeper put in huge shifts that kept the hosts at bay for almost the entire game.
While Martinez showcased his assured handling in goal, there were important tackles and vital interceptions galore from Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, and Matt Targett. Manchester City played some lovely football to reach the Villa goal but were almost always rebuffed at the final hurdle.
In fact, both of Manchester City’s goals ultimately came down to luck. Rodri’s positioning for the opener and Cash’s unfortunate handball could easily have resulted in both decisions going the other way on another day.
And so, while Manchester City’s defenders were also at their most efficient as they registered yet another shutout, the grit and determination shown by the Aston Villa rearguard was extremely praiseworthy.
#4 The lack of a quality striker in the Manchester City squad is quite evident
While Pep Guardiola is no stranger to using a midfielder as a striker in the ‘false 9’ formation, he has had to rely on that tactic heavily this season in the continued absence of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.
Over the course of the season, the position has been filled by Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Riyad Mahrez, with the Portuguese starting in that role against Villa.
And while the results achieved by Guardiola’s side this season cannot be argued with, his tactics were given an extremely stern examination by Aston Villa’s resolute defensive unit.
The hosts had the upper hand throughout the contest and spent most of the game camped in and around the Aston Villa penalty area. However, the lack of a proven goal-scorer and instinctive finisher was quite evident.
As good as the Villa defense was, Manchester City carved out a number of extremely presentable opportunities. But in the absence of Aguero and Jesus (in the first half), they fell to the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo.
While Silva ultimately broke the deadlock, the goal finally came after Manchester City had had more than 25 attempts at goal. And it required an extremely clinical finish from the Portuguese international.
Had a fully-fit Aguero or Jesus been involved from the start, the movement and link-up play of a bonafide striker might have led to one of the chances being taken much earlier. This is something that Manchester City could possibly regret when facing a superior defensive unit further down the line.
#5 It’s extremely tight at the top of the Premier League table
The headline-grabbing tie in the extended round of fixtures in this game week had been a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.
Even as that tie ended in an underwhelming 0-0 draw, Leicester City emerged as the unlikely beneficiaries of recent results. They first overhauled Liverpool with a win at the weekend and followed that up by climbing to the top of the table by beating Chelsea in midweek.
Their reign atop the Premier League standings would be a short one, however, as Manchester City took over the top spot with this hard-fought win over Villa, pipping the Foxes on goal difference.
However, with Manchester United slated to play Fulham immediately after the Manchester City game, there is still potential for the lead to change hands for the third time in less than 48 hours. The Red Devils could reclaim the top spot with a win at Craven Cottage.
With Liverpool very much still in the title mix and just six points separating first place from seventh-placed West Ham United, this season’s title race looks to be significantly more tightly contested at the halfway stage than it was last season.
