Every era requires a defining victory and Aston Villa’s magnum opus under Unai Emery, so far anyway, came at home against Manchester City last season.
It was a December night, just over 12 months ago and Villa won 1-0.
In truth, the scoreline was merciful on City. Pep Guardiola’s three-in-a-row (and soon-to-be-four) Premier League title winners barely landed a glove and Villa put on a performance that will surely be replayed for years to come, with clips of the finer details shown to the club’s academy players.
It was masterful and it was beautiful. Every function of the Emery-designed machine working to its optimal level, dismantling the reigning European champions, who were, as they were again yesterday, Rodri-less and directionless. City registered two shots all game — both coming inside the opening 11 minutes, which was the fewest ever by a Guardiola side, and conceded the joint-most shots of his Premier League reign (22).
City were uncharacteristically stirred beyond recognition but roused themselves and did not lose another league game for the rest of the campaign, winning 19 of the final 23.
Although the weaknesses Villa exposed that Wednesday evening have become more perceptible within City this season, Emery insisted he “did not care” about their toils before this latest visit. “They are full of permanent danger,” he said.
Once more, City came to Villa Park in December and once more they were beaten — the 2-1 scoreline this time not doing the home side’s dominance justice. Emery and Guardiola both sit in more pensive positions than they did 12 months ago, short of where they want to be and knowing more of their side’s vulnerabilities have been unmasked this season. It is broadly reflective of how the 2024-25 Premier League has shaped up, with managers who seek to control most variables in matches finding it more difficult to do so and being prone to late implosions, something Villa were reminded of away to Nottingham Forest at the start of the month.
Both managers instil a highly disciplined structure on their teams, preferring to regulate the tempo of play and rely on ruthlessness in both boxes to win matches. Neither City nor Villa — similarly to the concerns around Arsenal’s recent bluntness up front — have carried the same conviction as they did last term. They seem more hesitant, less sure of themselves and more susceptible to defensive errors.
Before Saturday, Villa had conceded 25 goals from an expected goals against (xGA) number of 19.5. In other words, they had shipped five more goals than expected, with only 19th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers underperforming in that metric at a greater rate. Underlying data is not the panacea to explain every issue but it did not show us a Villa team dripping with assurance.
While Emery said he “did not know” the factors behind City’s widening issues, there were areas of weakness he exploited in that match just over a year ago. Back then, Emery knew the importance of Villa not solely reducing themselves to a counter-attacking threat and wanted to create overloads through the heart of the pitch, selecting four archetypal central midfielders who pressed man-to-man on a City midfield who were without a specialist at the position with Rodri suspended. Villa won possession in the final third 13 times, the most ever by an opposition team against a Guardiola one.
This time, City had specialist midfielders available but resembled an ageing rock band, especially without their key member in Rodri (out for the season through injury this time) once again.
“I never like to guarantee or predict a result but I am sure today the team will have the right approach,” Emery wrote in Saturday’s programme notes. “Aston Villa is a team that never surrenders unless the rival proves they are much better than us. No one can be more focused or committed.”
Emery picked a team that drew immediate parallels to this same fixture a year ago. It can be no coincidence that Villa went with four central midfielders again, even if they were doing so for the first time this season. Amadou Onana was the only change in a box-shaped midfield, replacing the now-departed Douglas Luiz in the side from last December’s fixture against City, with Youri Tielemans pushed into the No 10 position, and John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara completing the quartet.
Every intention was nearly materialised inside the game’s first 15 seconds, when McGinn stole the ball and Jhon Duran, starting in place of Ollie Watkins, charged through to force a save from Stefan Ortega. Intense pressing was matched by powerful forward runs.
City were left chasing back towards their own goal, victims of a high defensive line and an absence of energy in midfield. Onana tracked every step of Phil Foden and Kamara did the same with Ilkay Gundogan. In trying to escape their clutches, Foden and Gundogan swapped roles just before the half-hour mark.
A 4-2-4 shape out of possession matched up City, provoking duels across the pitch. Emery knew that if Villa were aggressive enough, they could make hay amid City’s dysfunction. Villa’s possession percentage was in the low twenties, yet they had five shots inside the opening 25 minutes.
Possession with a purpose was a theme throughout and was crystallised by Duran’s opening goal on 16 minutes.
Starting with Emiliano Martinez in goal, the entire move consisted of just three passes.
Jhon Duran opens the scoring and Aston Villa lead 🤩
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/RvI7nQl6cs
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 21, 2024
And for U.S. readers:
WHAT A START FOR ASTON VILLA. 💥
Jhon Duran strikes on the counter to make it 1-0 against the champions!
📺 USA Network | #AVLMCI pic.twitter.com/Hj8KJM473F
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 21, 2024
Guardiola and Emery both play systems influenced by the desire to guard against transitions and yet Villa kept breaking through City yesterday.
Emery explained after how he wanted his players to start the match by “pressing strongly” and was unhappy at half-time with how “low” Villa were defending. The solution, he insisted, was to make more passes to control the game and allow his midfield to play through their City counterparts, in turn creating more opportunities to reach the final third.
Duran’s disallowed goal for offside in the second half was a consequence of Tielemans being able to thread passes from a higher position and City having no pressure on the ball. Villa were too athletic, too strong and always had an overload centrally.
“I give more credit to Aston Villa for making that action than our (mistakes),” said Guardiola. “They make diagonal passes with Tielemans behind our holding midfielders. I give credit because the opponents were good. They dribble, they keep the ball. You go to McGinn, they dribble at you; you go to (Morgan) Rogers, they dribble at you.”
Villa attempted 28 tackles, nearly three times as many as City (11). They forced 10 more turnovers (21), which was key to launching themselves on the attack, and the chasm in athleticism and power between the two sides was obvious. It reached a stage where it felt inevitable Villa would rip through City’s midfield. The second goal from Rogers to double the lead just past the hour came through his typical bustling.
Emery took a page from a previous playbook to register Villa’s second straight home win against City. It started — and was decided — with midfield.
(Top photo: Onana at full-time, left, and Emery; Getty Images)
