BIRMINGHAM — Aston Villa ended Manchester City's 100% winning start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 victory at Villa Park, as Nicolas Jackson's double in each half halted City's streak of seven straight wins and exposed glaring defensive issues for Enzo Maresca's side.
City have now managed only one clean sheet in their past six matches, with their most recent shutout coming in an impressive victory at Liverpool two weeks ago. Around that result they have conceded against sides ranging from Champions League holders Paris St-Germain to top-flight strugglers Sunderland, and since the start of last season only eight players have made more errors leading to Premier League goals than Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guehi, with three each. Maresca was forced to try different combinations at the back against Villa and told TNT Sports: "Absolutely, both. Sometimes you have to be a bit more lucky because we only conceded those two chances, but we created a lot of chances. We played most of the game in their box but you have to be clinical and avoid mistakes like the two goals we conceded."
The form of Donnarumma is of particular concern. Signed last summer as one of the best goalkeepers in the world to replace Ederson — the Brazilian who changed the face of English football with his footwork — the Italy captain struggles with the ball at his feet and often puts team-mates in trouble with passes out from the back. On Saturday captain Ruben Dias gesticulated for him to send the ball up the pitch after failing to control a difficult pass. Though he could do little about Jackson's thumping finish for the opener, he should have done better for the second as a low shot squirmed under him. Former City defender Steph Houghton said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "I think Villa really utilised keeping the ball and being a real threat to Manchester City. Donnarumma, especially with the second goal, could probably have done a little bit better. But I don't want to take anything away from Villa. I think they performed really, really well and the gameplan was spot on, just to nullify City as much as possible." The contrast with James Trafford — sold to Leeds for £45m in the summer — is stark, with the England international having made more passes than Donnarumma this season, holding a slightly better rate at preventing goals and sweeping up 11 times compared with Donnarumma's one.
Centre-back Guehi, a £20m arrival from Crystal Palace in January considered a bargain, is also struggling. His loose pass at Everton late last season cost City dearly in the title race, drawing that match and losing impetus to eventual champions Arsenal, and this season he was culpable for both goals scored by Ipswich last weekend before being picked off by John McGinn deep in his own half for Villa's first goal. He later hauled down Jackson on the edge of the box, was shown a yellow card and was taken off at half-time. Abdukodir Khusanov started out wide but struggled before moving inside in place of Guehi, while Rico Lewis was introduced to fill the gap, with Maresca acknowledging afterwards he needs to "find that balance" in defence. City sources had said they were targeting a right-back in the summer before pivoting elsewhere, saying Khusanov can provide back-up should Matheus Nunes not be available.
City started the campaign conceding eight goals in their first nine matches but have shipped nine in their past four, and though they are guaranteed to be in the top two come the end of the weekend, Maresca knows the leaks must be fixed. As Sir Alex Ferguson once said, "attack wins you games, defence wins you titles". Villa supporters provided constant reminders to the travelling fans of their side being "cheats" following the guilty verdict on financial charges, an atmosphere that may be weighing on minds. Asked by BBC Sport if Guehi's form is a worry, Maresca said: "No, I'm not worried about Marc at all. I know he is playing every minute since the season started with us and the national team, so it's not easy but the change was also because he was on a yellow card. The way we want to be aggressive sometimes, to have one yellow card can be dangerous but I am not worried at all." The test only gets tougher, with Fabian Hurzeler's free-scoring Brighton to face twice next week in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday and in the Premier League on Saturday, following Jackson's double ended City's perfect start.