Aston Villa 1-6 Manchester City: Three Things We Learned From City’s Dominant Win

Manchester City destroyed Aston Villa this Sunday at Villa Park. The Citizens, led by an inspiring performance from Sergio Agüero, scored six past the recently promoted squad and cruised their way towards a huge win on the road. Here are three things we have learned from this win.

Pep’s Machine Can Still Function At Top Gear When Needed

There has been a lot of talk regarding Pep Guardiola’s method this season, and whether it fits the Premier League or not. Even though Villa are a “minor” squad, this game should serve as a remainder for the rest of the league that City can easily score a bunch of goals per game regardless of which team is in front of them.

The Citizens currently lead the league in goals scored with 62 in 22 matches, and average almost 3.0 strikes per game. Plus, they registered 22 shots against Villa (12 on target) and had 71 percent of the possession while playing away from home. If that’s not a dominant performance, I don’t know how we can call it.

Sergio Agüero Is The Undisputed Leader Of This Team

Agüero is already 31 years old and might not have a lot of time left at the top level. But one thing is certain regarding the Argentina international. He continues to be the team’s most important player by a wide margin. City are a different team when he’s out there.

The former Independiente star spent most of December sidelined due to injury, and only returned to the starting lineup three games. But he has five goals in those three matches in all competitions, and City have won all of them. Plus, The Citizens lost just once (W4, D2, L1) while Agüero was out. But his presence changes things entirely for City.

Just ask Villa. Agüero netted three times against The Villains on Sunday, finding the back of the net in the 28th, 57th and 81st minutes.

Villa Will Struggle To Avoid Relegation If They Don’t Change Soon

Aston Villa have a few interesting players on their squad such as Jack Grealish, Douglas Luiz and Anwar El Ghazi. They did a good job to strengthen themselves ahead of their return to the Premier League following several years in England’s second tier. But one thing is certain. Villa could very well return to the second division if they don’t turn things around soon.

Aside from conceding six goals against City, Aston Villa now own the league’s second-worst defensive unit with 43 goals conceded in 22 games – nearly two per match. They have also lost three of their last five matches and, if the season ended today, they would return to the Championship since they sit in 18th place with 21 points. They have enough time to turn the ship around. But things are getting more and more complicated after every weekend for them.

Match Report

Aston Villa: Nyland (5); Mohamady (5), Ngoyo (4), Mings (5), Hause (4), Taylor (4); Douglas Luiz (5) (Nakamba (5), 65’), Drinkwater (4) (Lansbury (-), 79’), Hourihnane (5) (Trezeguet 6), 71’); El Ghazi (6), Grealish (5)

Subs not used: Kalinic (GK), Guibert, Chester, Vassilev

Manchester City: Ederson (6); Joao Cancelo (8), Stones (6), Fernandinho (7) (Otamendi (5), 63’), Mendy (7); De Bruyne (8) (Foden (5), 63’), Rodrigo (7) (Gundogan (5), 71’), David Silva (8); Mahrez (9), Agüero (10), Gabriel Jesus (8)

Subs not used: Bravo (GK), Walker, Bernardo Silva, Sterling

Goals: Mahrez (0-1, 18’), Mahrez (0-2, 24’), Agüero (0-3, 28’), Gabriel Jesus (0-4, 46’), Agüero (0-5, 57’), Agüero (0-6, 81’), El Ghazi (1-6, PK, 90’+1)

Referee: Jon Moss

Yellow cards: El Ghazi, Grealish (AV); Fernandinho (MCI)

Red cards: None

Attendance: 41,823