Aston Villa continued their remarkable turnaround under Unai Emery, becoming just the second team in top-flight history to follow a five-game winless start with four straight victories, after Matty Cash’s first-half strike handed Manchester City their first Premier League defeat since August, Softfootball reports.
City, who seemed to have regained momentum after a convincing 2-0 win over Everton, last weekend, were stunned early on when Villa took the lead inside 20 minutes. A cleverly worked short corner found its way to Matty Cash on the edge of the area, and the Polish full-back shifted past Bernardo Silva before rifling a low, left-footed drive beyond an unmoved Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Erling Haaland almost provided an immediate response when he broke into the Villa box, but the Norwegian’s effort was brilliantly denied by Emiliano Martínez, a moment that set the tone for the night.
Villa’s first-half joy was dampened by an injury to Emiliano Buendía, forcing an early change that introduced Jadon Sancho for his first Premier League home appearance in a Villa shirt. The Manchester United loanee quickly made an impression, linking up with John McGinn to create a deflected chance that fizzed narrowly wide.
Trailing at the break for the first time in an away Premier League game this season, Pep Guardiola’s men returned with renewed intent. Savinho’s quick feet forced two desperate defensive blocks from Villa before the hour mark as City piled on the pressure. Guardiola then turned to his bench, introducing Nico González, Nico O’Reilly, and Jérémy Doku in search of an equaliser.
Among the substitutes was young Rayan Cherki, whom Pep once described as one of the greatest talents I’ve ever seen. But tonight simply wasn’t City’s day. Despite being brought on for Tijjani Reijnders, Cherki struggled to find the spark his manager hoped for as Villa stood firm.
At the other end, Sancho nearly doubled Villa’s advantage when he wriggled into the box and forced Donnarumma into a sharp save before seeing his rebound pushed away as well. That missed opportunity almost came back to haunt them when Haaland thought he had grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser, only for the assistant’s flag to cut short City’s celebrations.
After the game, Aston villa posted on their official X handle, the players reactions to the victory on the road as the head back to the dressing room. Watch below:
The win whichh was Villa’s third consecutive home triumph over City lifted Unai Emery’s side to seventh, just a point behind Pep Guardiola’s men in fourth. For the cityzens, the defeat snapped a nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions and served as a sobering reminder that even the very best can be undone by a side playing with Villa’s belief, resilience, and hunger.
