Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, second left, scores his side’s second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Manchester City, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City’s season went from bad to worse on Saturday when Pep Guardiola’s men went down 2-1 to Aston Villa, losing their 9th match out of their last 11 in all competitions. This was also his 6th defeat in their last 8 league matches, taking just 4 points from them.
Jhon Durán struck first in the 16th minute followed by Morgan Rogers, a former City player, in the 65th minute with the defending champions pulling one back, courtesy of an added time strike by Phil Foden.
The recent defeat pushed City down to 6th with a 9-point gap with leaders Liverpool. Villa, meanwhile leapfrogged over City and went to 5th. City have now won just 1 in the last 12 games, conceding 27 goals in the process.
On the eve of the match, City’s troubled season was dealt another blow with confirmation that defender Ruben Dias will be out for up to four weeks because of a muscle injury.
Guardiola has cited injuries to key players such as Rodri as a factor in his team’s troubles and the loss of Dias compounds his problems.
Guardiola said Dias’ injury occurred during Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United.
Last week, Amad Diallo struck a 90th-minute winner as United staged a stunning late comeback to beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League.
Four-time defending champion City led the Manchester derby 1-0 going into the 88th minute at the Etihad Stadium. But the game was turned round in dramatic fashion as Bruno Fernandes leveled from the penalty spot and Diallo sealed victory for United — prompting head coach Ruben Amorim to declare “something magic happened.”
It was a first derby victory for new United head coach Ruben Amorim, who led Sporting Lisbon to a 4-1 win against City in one of his last games in charge of the Portuguese club in November.
“We have a lot to do but it was massive for our fans,” Amorim said.
(With agency inputs)
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