Aston Villa secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday night, with Leon Bailey’s second-half goal seeing off the reigning Premier League champions.
It was a memorable night at Villa Park, as Unai Emery’s side not only picked up all three points, but dominated the game as that in turn created a brilliant atmosphere.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s brilliant win vs Man City
The win moves us up to third place in the Premier League table, and given the quality shown right across the pitch, every player deserves plaudits for their respective contribution to the result.
Villa will now regroup and prepare for the visit of Arsenal on Saturday evening, as we try to create club history with a 15th consecutive home league win.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Manchester City:
Emiliano Martinez, 9 – Made a decisive double save early on to deny Haaland in a crucial moment in the game. His distribution was excellent throughout as he was vital yet again.
Ezri Konsa, 9 – Solid defensive shift to limit Foden’s threat. Showed good positioning and awareness off the ball, and was composed and accurate in possession to help us build our play from the back.
Diego Carlos, 9 – Brilliant performance. Provided the physicality up against Haaland to keep him quiet for the most part, with Villa Park erupting after one particular duel that the Brazilian came out on top in. Important on the ball too, as he was willing to try and go long and play the more difficult passes to find a way through City.
Pau Torres, 9 – Switched on defensively throughout, but his passing is exceptional. So composed and calm on the ball, he opens things up for us with that patience and eye for a pass to help us build attacking patterns.
Lucas Digne, 8.5 – Another important shift as he was resilient with his defensive work, and he continuously pushed forward to give us width and an attacking option down the left flank. Top effort.
Leon Bailey, 9 – It’s clear that his confidence and fitness are sky high right now, as he’s looking threatening on a consistent basis and is in turn making a decisive impact. Caused the City defence problems throughout with his pace and trickery on the ball, and scored the all-important winner to secure the three points.
Boubacar Kamara, 9 – While his absence last weekend emphasised his importance, this display rubber stamped it. The Frenchman was fundamental as he constantly won back possession and showed great composure to give us control and allowed us to dictate the tempo.
Douglas Luiz, 8.5 – Helped us to dictate and control the game, and he undoubtedly benefited from having Kamara back alongside him. Unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet as he had one chalked off and hit the post with another attempt, but another stellar contribution.
John McGinn, 9 – What a performance. Tenacious and gritty with his defensive work as he just didn’t stop running throughout. Even when asked to change position, he continued to show a relentless desire to get us over the line. Importantly though, he’s now pairing that with real quality on the ball, as he is able to turn in dangerous areas and cause the opposition real problems.
Youri Tielemans, 8.5 – Much better in a more advanced role as he showed great work ethic and desire out of possession to put pressure on City and force them into mistakes, while being able to link things together between midfield and attack. The balance was spot on in this one for Villa, having been off at Bournemouth with Kamara out.
Ollie Watkins, 8.5 – A crucial presence up top, not only with his pressing off the ball to make City uncomfortable, but his hold up play and ability to run the channels and create problems for them in behind was key to stretching the pitch and giving us control. All it was missing was a goal contribution, but he was still vital in the win.
Substitutes:
Moussa Diaby, N/A
Jacob Ramsey, N/A
Alex Moreno, N/A
Jhon Duran, N/A