City lost 1-0 to the Villans, courtesy of a Leon Bailey deflected strike in the 74th minute on Wednesday. With a win Aston Villa leapfrogged Manchester City into third place with a club-record 14th home league win in a row.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
City were well below par and are now winless in four league matches, remaining on 30 points, now six points off the top.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Speaking to the media at Villa Park in the aftermath of the loss, the manager was quick to heap praise on our opponents.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe better team won. Aston Villa was better than us. They are well organised, fast and [have] physical players and team and they are able to control many aspects. That is the reason why they are up there, playing good football and we could not do it. It\u2019s my duty, my job to find the way to come back,\" Guardiola was quoted by club's official website.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I give credit to Aston Villa, first of all. They do it. The first half we struggled to follow what we spoke about. (We said) something at half-time and it was much better, the team had another dynamic but we didn\u2019t find the players to make the assist, the cross, the pass.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We arrive there but we didn\u2019t have the feeling that \u2018oh we are going to do something\u2019. And we miss it,\" he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Manchester City attempted just two shots in this match, with both of those coming in the 11th minute. It\u2019s the fewest shots ever attempted by a Pep Guardiola team in a match within Europe\u2019s big-five leagues, while the 22 from Aston Villa was the joint-most faced by a Guardiola side.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Asked whether Villa could threaten City\u2019s hopes of clinching a fourth successive title, Guardiola said: \"Yes, definitely, [because] of the way they are playing. When you are there, you see the physicality, the tempo, the speed, the bench, the organisation from Unai Emery, in the set pieces, the high pressing \u2026 how incredibly they defend in the back four, a good goalkeeper (Emiliano Martinez).\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
City were without the influential Rodrigo for the evening game in the West Midlands, alongside the suspended Jack Grealish and injured Jeremy Doku. Guardiola accepts the importance of our midfield lynchpin in particular but he believes it\u2019s up to him, as manager, to find a solution going-forward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cOf course, he\u2019s (Rodrigo) important but today we tried with Manu playing there, with John playing there. John made an incredible effort after a long time [out]. He\u2019s back and played well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cYes give more credit to Aston Villa. They have the ability to punish you and they contact behind our players. They played well. We have to accept it. We have to admit it. When a team is better we have to recognise it. It\u2019s that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cBefore when we play in a good level in the past, we were able to win, now we did not do it. That\u2019s why we have to change the dynamic on Sunday in Luton and come back to our best,\" said Guardiola.<\/p>\r\n\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2023\/12\/premier-league-manchester-city-are-struggling-says-pep-guardiola-after-loss-at-aston-villa.JPG", "alt_img": "Premier League: Manchester City 'are struggling', says Pep Guardiola after loss at Aston Villa", "alt_title": "Premier League: Manchester City 'are struggling', says Pep Guardiola after loss at Aston Villa", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "Premier League: Manchester City 'are Struggling', Says Pep Guardiola After Loss At Aston Villa On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Premier League: Manchester City 'are Struggling', Says Pep Guardiola After Loss At Aston Villa, Manchester City: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted that his side is struggling a little bit and also gave an.", "seo_keywords": "Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Aston Villa, Leon Bailey, Villa Park, Unai Emery, Emiliano Martinez, West Midlands, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku", "tag": "", "tagging": "Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Aston Villa, Leon Bailey, Villa Park, Unai Emery, Emiliano Martinez, West Midlands, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "premier-league-manchester-city-are-struggling-says-pep-guardiola-after-loss-at-aston-villa", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "729", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2023-12-07 15:52:03", "updated": "2023-12-07 15:52:03", "img_from": "Image Source: IANS", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Aston Villa, Leon Bailey, Villa Park, Unai Emery, Emiliano Martinez, West Midlands, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "1", "google_feed": "1", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "23", "jio_date": "2023-12-07 15:52:03", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "0", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "sports_name": "football", "cnmid": "833849", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/sports-news\/premier-league-manchester-city-are-struggling-says-pep-guardiola-after-loss-at-aston-villa-11067" }