Leon Bailey’s 74th minute effort was the difference on the night as Aston Villa put in a flawless performance against the champions.
This result helps Unai Emery’s side into the top three of the Premier League, with the Villans leapfrogging Pep Guardiola’s treble-winners following the mid-week action.
Join Liam and George as they discuss some of the key talking points from last night’s incredible victory at Villa Park…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE RISE OF LEON BAILEY
Leon Bailey once again proved his worth in claret and blue with another stellar performance capped off with a goal against Manchester City. His superb skills matched with a new found confidence under Unai Emery is proving pivotal to Aston Villa’s season so far. Without his two goals in the last two games, Villa would have only had taken one point out of a possible six, leaving them fifth in the table.
The 26-year-old faced one of his biggest tests since his £30 million move from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2021 against reigning treble winners Manchester City, but once again relished his chance. In only his fourth start of the season in the league, the Jamaican netted his fifth goal of the term (eighth in all competitions) to put the Villans up to third in the table. Gone are the days of his poor end product, this guy looks the real deal and he’s keeping record-signing Moussa Diaby out of the team.
Every time he’s had the ball in recent weeks, there’s almost been an expectation that he’ll produce something special; with every spin, step over and touch he poises a constant unpredictable threat and full-backs just cannot handle him. His signature celebration was once again displayed in front of The Holte End, accompanied with the chant that many thought we may not hear again after falling out of favour under the previous manager.
This was also Bailey’s second goal against the blue side of Manchester, scoring in the 1-1 draw at Villa Park last season, as the Jamaican continues to haunt Pep Guardiola and the Citizens.
Before making way in the 85th minute, Villa’s number 31 managed to complete 16 out of 21 passes, one of them being a key pass, and three successful dribbles. The stats don’t quite do the display justice however, by not taking into account his trickery and the havoc he caused whoever dared to go near him.
Bailey has revealed time and time again that he relishes playing under Unai Emery and the more he continues to perform at such a high level, the manager can only trust him further and keep him well within the starting eleven. Can Villa’s in-form winger put in another top display against Arsenal this weekend?
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DOMINANCE AND ADAPTABILITY
Unai Emery’s Villa asserted their dominance once again at home against another strong outfit, limiting European champions Manchester City to just two shots on target. Both efforts came from Erling Haaland in the 11th minute but the Norwegian was denied by masterful saves from ‘the best in the world’, Emi Martínez.
For context, in Nottingham Forest’s 5-0 battering from Fulham, Steve Cooper’s side still managed four shots, doubling that of City’s. This is also remarkably the first time a Pep Guardiola side has been limited to just two shots in 90 minutes across the Spaniard’s 535 game managerial league career. Extraordinary.
Pep Guardiola was asked why his team lost last night, his response was a short one: “The better team won, Aston Villa were better than us.”
Despite seeing less of the ball on the night, the West-Midlands outfit capitalised with a high press that Manchester City struggled to break through. Emery’s side won the ball 13 times in the final third and left Villa Park with an expected goals of 2.33 (according to the xG philosophy). This will not be the last time Villa come out on top against a ‘big six side’ either as the squad is so adaptable and have learned to adjust to get the better of any team.
Proof of this adaptability can be seen all throughout Emery’s reign and high pressing and expected goals (xG) is not the only way Villa can dominate teams. Yesterday was another game where Unai Emery’s men didn’t win the possession stat but deservedly came out on top. Take the 6-1 against Brighton for example; that afternoon, we only managed 38% possession and still managed an absolute mauling. Then against slightly lesser opposition (e.g. Luton and Crystal Palace) we showed that we can dominate possession and still have the presence of mind to create various chances.
Possession isn’t the only significant factor either, Villa have often shown character this season – being able to stay within touching distance, even when struggling in a match, is proving dividends to the success of the campaign thus far.
Tottenham’s abundance of first-half chances a fortnight ago and their 1-0 lead had the Villans on the back foot, with the away side’s only shot on target in the first half coming just before the break when Pau Torres headed home an equaliser. Remaining in the game was vital here as it allowed Emery to makes the half-time changes which would alter the complexion of the contest and set up for victory in the end.
You’d think the way we play against Arsenal on Saturday will be similar to that of Wednesday night and another giant slaying could be on the cards at Villa Park – just how will we fair against the current table toppers?
WON IT IN THE MIDFIELD
5:04pm, Sunday 3rd December 2023, The Etihad Stadium. Referee Simon Hooper brandishes a yellow card and all of a sudden, Aston Villa social media sites erupt as Manchester City’s Rodri receives a fifth caution of the season, meaning he will miss the mid-week contest at Villa Park.
Everyone knows just how crucial the Spaniard is to the Sky Blues side; he is the heartbeat of the team, he makes everything tick and has been the catalyst for their success over the years. He also just loves a goal against the Villa.
Heading into the game, knowing City’s key man faced a suspension, you could tell the midfield battle would be crucial; Unai Emery would have been well aware of this too. With that knowledge, the Basque boss deployed a box-midfield of Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans who faced up against a somewhat spatially inexperienced Man City midfield consisting of John Stones, Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji and Bernardo Silva.
Villa’s middle men were tremendous on the night. Cases can be made that each of the four put in their best performances in a claret and blue shirt last night. To a man, unplayable.
There are hundreds of superlatives you can use to describe the way the quartet played, here are just a few of them:
Boubacar Kamara: resilient, strong, dominant.
Douglas Luiz: composed, cogent, influential.
John McGinn: energetic, spirited, technical.
Youri Tielemans: vibrant, composed, dynamic.
It’s worth mentioning Jacob Ramsey’s cameo too; the 21-year-old replaced Tielemans in the final five minutes and matched the effort and level of performance shown by his Belgian counterpart to help his side to victory.
It was a mid-week midfield masterclass on Wednesday night. Emery had (finally) outclassed Guardiola and the 52-year-old head coach largely has his trusty middle-men to thank for it. The four’s performances will play a large part in determining the result against the Gunners on Saturday and their displays will be just as key for the remainder of the season too. Would you begin this weekend’s game with all four in the starting eleven again?
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TITLE CONTENDERS?
Are Aston Villa in a title race? That is the question on many people’s minds on the back of last night’s triumph. Is it far too early to say and are we getting carried away or are Aston Villa genuinely in contention to win the Premier League trophy this season?
First of all, just how amazing is it to be in the conversation? Rewinding back to five or six years ago when the club were struggling in mid-table in the EFL Championship or even 14 months ago after that dismal 3-0 defeat away at Fulham, I would have never have thought that we’d be in the position we are today, dismantling a side that won the treble last season. It’s madness.
In my opinion, it is far too early in the season to talk about winning titles – there’s still 23 games to go! Football is a whirlwind sport and things can drastically change in a short space of time. As Unai Emery discussed post-match last night, it’s all about staying objective and taking it each game at a time.
Leon Bailey echoed the thoughts of his head coach too, explaining that it is vital him and his team ‘remain humble’ and look at each game as a new challenge and opportunity to gather points.
Complacency, character and consistency in football defines a side. It is the difference between a good team and an elite level team. Every top group of players will not let any result get the better of them, whether that’s getting too disappointed after defeat or getting too carried away after victory.
The season is a marathon, not a sprint and whilst it’s important to enjoy the good moments, such as last night’s win, because that is what supporting a football club is all about, it is crucial to think about the long-term.
Given the inconsistency of this season, namely the results against the likes of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, talking about winning titles seems like a longshot, but with that being said, last night’s game was incredible. As mentioned earlier, we didn’t just beat City, we dominated them.
Saturday’s fixture against Arsenal will be yet another good test for Unai Emery and his in-form side, if they were to claim another three points and extend the winning run at home to 15, who knows, maybe ‘2023/24 Aston Villa Football Club’ could be the latest etching on the Premier League trophy?
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