With the post-defeat debrief well underway, Aston Villa will be left bitterly disappointed after our 2-1 loss at Man City.
Pep Guardiola’s side struck their winning goal deep into injury time just as it appeared as though Villa would come away from the Etihad with a point, and that could yet prove to be a damaging result in our bid to qualify for the Champions League.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Man City: Errors prove costly in damaging defeat
While City stretch their lead over us in the Premier League standings, Villa now sit two points adrift of fifth place in the table, with our rivals all having played a game less.
In turn, we’ll need some favours this weekend, but our priority now has to be bouncing back and booking our place in the FA Cup final by beating Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
No time to feel sorry for ourselves, clear what is needed
It’s a brutal way to lose any game, but it’s done and Villa must draw a line under it and quickly move on as the week progresses.
A response is necessary this weekend as we can’t afford to let this result derail our entire campaign, and so the first objective is to get the better of Palace and advance to the FA Cup final.
Beyond that, it will remain a case of taking it one game at a time, but with just four league games remaining this season, Emery and the players will know that it’s a pretty simple equation at this point, we have to win out to keep ourselves in the hunt.
Individual errors cost us
Whether it was Emiliano Martinez’s poor effort to prevent the opening goal or Axel Disasi being beaten by Jeremy Doku in the lead up to the second as our entire backline then allowed the ball to get across to Matheus Nunes, it was a performance littered with decisive mistakes.
Emery isn’t exempt from this point either as after hitting the post just 18 seconds into the contest, there was a sense that we could get at City and put them under pressure.
Instead, we sat in and soaked up pressure while looking to counter, and that played into their hands in many ways as they dominated possession, found their rhythm and built sustained pressure before eventually finding the all-important breakthrough,
Further, putting Disasi up against Doku was always going to be problematic, and coupled with the defeat in Paris to PSG, that’s twice in two major games where we’ve been exposed with a centre-half at right-back.
Onana with a big performance
One of the positives from this game was the performance of Amadou Onana in the heart of the Villa midfield, as he put in a crucial shift for the team.
The Belgian international used his physicality and agility really well to give us some sort of foothold in the game, while he made several big defensive plays from set-pieces, including one magnificent intervention that stopped an almost certain goal.
It’s important he continues to enjoy a strong finish to the campaign, as he can be an influential force in our midfield when in top form.
Rogers uncharacteristically quiet
Whether it was just a difficult opponent to get the better of or fatigue is starting to catch up with him, Morgan Rogers was quiet in this encounter and couldn’t have the influence needed in attacking areas.
While he did show good touch and link-up play at times, he was often left frustrated with a lack of fouls given to him and his temperament came into question as he wasn’t happy with the officials.
We’ll need him to dig deep and produce in the remaining games, as along with Youri Tielemans, the pair have been pillars of how Emery wants us to play and being so effective doing it.
Rashford, Watkins conundrum this weekend
Rashford once again got the nod ahead of Ollie Watkins, and although he justified the decision from Emery with a threatening display which included our goal from the penalty spot, it’s going to be an ongoing selection headache for the Villa boss.
He’s undoubtedly picking based on who he believes will be more effective against the opposition in question, and it could be argued that Rashford’s pace and movement on the counter was ideal for this game.
That changes on Saturday as we’ll want more possession, control and won’t necessarily play it in behind or look to hit Palace on the counter attack, and so it’s hoped that Watkins has the chance to deliver an emphatic response once again to being left out of the Villa XI.
