“The better team won”: Guardiola on City’s 1-0 loss against Aston Villa

Birmingham: Following Manchester City’s disappointing 1-0 loss against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Thursday, City manager Pep Guardiola said that the better team won.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, the head coach accepted that the home team played better than them. Guardiola also praised Aston Villa and said that they were organised, fast and have physical players in their squad.

“The 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,” Guardiola said, according to Manchester City’s website.
Analysing the match, he said that City struggled in the first half and in the second half, the City players could not make an assist or pass to score goals.

“It’s my duty, my job to find the way to come back. I give credit to Aston Villa, first of all. They do it. In 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’t find the players to make the assist, the cross, the pass,” he added.

The only goal of the game came in the 74th minute from Villa striker Leon Bailey. It helped the club maintain its perfect home record and City looked unusually passive throughout the game. Manchester City have now gone four Premier League games without a win, including a loss.

Villa is above the defending champions at number three in the table, with 10 wins, two draws and three losses in 15 matches. They have a total of 32 points. City is in the fourth spot, with nine wins, three draws and three losses in 15 matches. They have a total of 30 points, six less than table leaders Arsenal.