Manchester City suffered their first defeat of their Premier League campaign on Saturday against Aston Villa. Enzo Maresca's side fell to a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park as a brace from Nicolas Jackson saw City's seven-game winning run in the Premier League come to an end. Manchester City's performance against Villa wasn't poor by any stretch. However, a common issue that has plagued City's play this season showed itself once again as individual errors cost Enzo Maresca's side. It is an issue that can easily be rectified and it should help City improve markedly.
Aston Villa made a fast start to Saturday's match at Villa Park. Manchester City were clearly rattled and Villa took a deserved lead when Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Jackson's opening goal came after a poor first touch from Marc Guehi in a dangerous position gifted Jackson possession in a dangerous position. From there, the Aston Villa striker made City pay. However, from the point onwards, Enzo Maresca's side gradually took control of Saturday's match.
Manchester City should have found an equalizer before halftime of Saturday's match. They were denied by Villa keeper Zion Suzuki on several occasions and Iliman Ndiaye also fired a shot onto the post. After halftime, Erling Haaland equalized in the 52nd minute when he headed home an Iliman Ndiaye cross. At that point of the match, Enzo Maresca's side was on top and it did seem like City would push on to following Haaland's goal. However, that would not occur.
Nicolas Jackson would restore Aston Villa's lead in the 60th minute. It would be a lead that Unai Emery's side would not relinquish. Villa broke in the 60th minute as Ibrahim Mbaye was found in space on Villa's right-hand side. He got himself into a dangerous position and picked out Nicolas Jackson in a great position on the edge of City's penalty area. Jackson hit a powerful low shot at Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made a mess of his attempted save and the ball squirmed under him to give Villa a 2-1 lead. That goal knocked the stuffing out of Manchester City and the two goals City conceded clearly showed an issue that they must rectify.
Unai Emery's side set up well against Manchester City but it wasn't a tactical master-class from Unai Emery. Outside of the two glaring errors from Guehi and Donnarumma, Enzo Maresca would've settled for that performance at a tricky venue on Saturday. However, the errors cost City dearly. Those errors are the issue that must be rectified.
First of all, Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma cannot be making such basic errors. They are leaders in this Manchester City side. Guehi cannot keep making errors like the one he made at Villa Park. That error followed his horror show against Ipswich Town where he was at fault for both of Ipswich Town's goals. Donnarumma's specialty is shot-stopping. He simply has to make the save he failed to make on Saturday. It is as simple as that. Those are issues that the players themselves have to rectify. The expectation is that they will.
Also, individual errors have cost Manchester City at times throughout this season. However, as City had been winning matches in the Premier League, they hadn't proved to be too costly. That changed against Aston Villa as individual errors cost Enzo Maresca's side. Individual errors are an easy issue to rectify and if they are, City should be able to get their rewards for the type of performance they put in for an hour at Villa Park. If the errors continue to cost City, the discussion will look very different in a few weeks time.
