Aston Villa moved up to third position in the English Premier League standing with 32 points, two behind Liverpool and four behind Arsenal after a deserved 1-0 win against Manchester City on Wednesday, their 14th consecutive home Premier League victory.
Villa stunned Pep Guardiola’s side thanks to a deflected shot from Leon Bailey, leaving the reigning Premier League champions in an unfamiliar fourth position and six points off the top.
Unai Emery’s Villa, enjoying their best season for years, oozed with confidence and dominated the game throughout, leapfrogging City to third in the table.
After squandering a hatful of chances, Villa’s winner came in the 74th minute when Bailey took the ball just past the halfway line, ran at City’s defence before unleashing a shot that hit Ruben Dias’ foot to beat goalkeeper Ederson.
Minutes later, Douglas Luiz struck the post for the hosts, who could have won by a larger margin in a surprisingly one-sided game, to the noisy delight of the majority at Villa Park.
“It was a great game, great night for the fans, great night for Aston Villa,” said Bailey. “To get the win and to be the one that scored the goal is a magnificent feeling.”
Reuters reports that the result left Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on 30 points after 15 games — six points behind leaders Arsenal — and without a win in their last four Premier League matches.
“Today Aston Villa played better and we struggled, especially in the first half,” Guardiola admitted.
“The challenge now is going to Luton and trying to win the game,” he added, referring to City’s next fixture on Sunday. “As a manager, I have to find the way to lift them again and find the way to win games. Now we’re struggling a bit.”
