Manchester City's gloomy winter continues as Rogers seals victory for Aston Villa | first division

Merry Christmas, Pep. For city ​​of manchester and Guardiola, this was another painful destruction, an unthinkable ninth defeat in 12 games for a team that has gone from formidable to fragile and flat. City have lost six of their last eight Premier League games, as many as they lost on their way to the title in 2020-21, the worst of their championship-winning seasons. They could finish the weekend in ninth place.

Guardiola, wearing a long black cape and boots, approached the increasingly bewildered fans. Then there was a deep swelling in the cheeks. These are difficult times. For Unai Emery and Villa, this was another triumph: Jhon Durán and Morgan Rogers scored good goals to dominate the visitors.

If Guardiola was feeling uncomfortable before kick-off, his players offered nothing to reassure him. From the moment Phil Foden got the ball rolling at halfway, Villa jumped into the lead. Within 15 seconds, John McGinn chased down Josko Gvardiol and allowed Durán to pass on goal. Durán's shot was unusually weak, allowing Stefan Ortega to save, but he probably shot it too early. On the next corner, Pau Torres headed in at the near post, but Ortega somehow avoided it, with his left hand helping the ball reach the crossbar and clear. Then came another awkward corner, this time deep, from Lucas Digne, which Ortega pushed away.

Villa imagined themselves. Durán attempted another early, speculative shot from a Digne throw-in and Manuel Akanji, who started in the center of defense with John Stones, had to cut the cord on Durán after McGinn tried to spot the Colombian striker at the far post. . It wouldn't take long for Durán to extend his phenomenal scoring streak. By the time 16 minutes had passed he was colliding with Rogers after combining for Villa's first goal. It was a pervasive but damning move from the city's perspective. With three precise passes, Villa opened up the visitors.

Emiliano Martínez fed Youri Tielemans who, halfway inside Villa's half, managed to clear a pressing and roaming Stones from their position. Tielemans then played a pass through the center of the City defense for Rogers to chase and selflessly squared for Durán to finish. The Colombian, who has scored in the six games he has started this season, now averages a goal every 82 minutes in the League. Amadou Onana placed an imaginary crown on her head to top off the celebrations.

Rogers, who spent four years at City after moving from West Brom as a youngster, had a blast, taking on challenges, overcoming opposition obstacles and launching moves from deep, with the overall thrill of keeping the champions at bay. At one point, approaching half-time, Rogers advanced from left-back after stealing possession of a group of City shirts, quickly leaving Foden crumpled and then pushing Silva out of the way.

For City, this was another whimper of defeat. Guardiola resorted to moonlighting as a ball boy, passing to Rico Lewis for a quick restart after Durán stole the ball from Bernardo Silva. For a moment it seemed that the olés could leak in already on the half hour mark, while Villa played brilliant triangles around a pedestrian City midfield. The City manager crouched in his technical area, ruminating and struggling with his thoughts, his left hand resting on his chin, as a Villa counter-attack failed at the last moment. Grealish and Foden sent shots wide, but City again lacked bite.

Guardiola kept his eyes glued to the ground at half-time, during which Grealish and Martínez exchanged words. Grealish was booed by locals and was guided through the tunnel by a member of City security staff, with Martinez in the rear-view mirror. Grealish, making his first start at Villa Park since leaving for City in a £100m deal, suffered some bumps and bruises but he and his team-mates looked mentally scarred by the run. They never recovered.

Rogers ignored Mateo Kovacic in the build-up to Villa's second. He started and finished the play, burying the ball with a diagonal shot with his left foot after McGinn squared the ball on the edge of the box. Guardiola stood still, seemingly in shock, before turning around in agony. Foden reduced the deficit in added time but, make no mistake, it was a 2-1 rout by City's very high standards.