Aston Villa vs Man City 2-1: English Premier League – as it happened

The live coverage of Aston Villa vs Manchester City in the Premier League has ended.

Thank you for joining us and I hope you enjoyed our coverage.

We will be back on Sunday with more live action from football, but for now, it’s a goodbye from me, Manasi Pathak, and Kevin Hand.

See you soon!

The focus now shifts to the heavyweight boxing title bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.

Patrick Keddie will bring you the blow-by-blow text commentary stream of the fight, and you can also read his preview here.

Here’s how the table looks from Man City up.

Forest are ahead at Brentford, while Arsenal play later and Liverpool and Chelsea are in action on Sunday.

It’s not looking good for a fifth straight title for City.

Aston Villa move above Man City into 5th after their win 📈

What other changes could we see in the top six this weekend? 👀 pic.twitter.com/u12bJ7FdgP

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024

Nottingham Forest could be about to extend their lead over Villa in joint fourth spot:

• Brentford 0-1 Nottingham Forest
• Ipswich Town 0-3 Newcastle United
• West Ham United 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Al Jazeera will bring you live updates from Sunday’s exciting clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Kickoff is at 16:30 GMT.

Up next: The Reds head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 👊🔴 #TOTLIV pic.twitter.com/oq3ZE8W0W2

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 19, 2024

The 3pm (15:00 GMT) games in the Premier League have just got under way, while title-hopefuls Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace in the late kickoff in England.

Four more games follow on Sunday.

Let the festivities begin 🎁#FestiveFixtures pic.twitter.com/iR2MwdNhod

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 20, 2024

“Always we are trying to be positive. In some matches, we are maybe not performing as we want, but today we performed,” Emery tells TNT Sports.

“We are feeling strong. Here we played the first half very well. In the second half, we kept possession more, and getting in the box to score the second goal, we imposed and dominated more.”

The Spaniard heaped praise on Rogers, who was their key player with a goal and an assist.

“He played fantastic today. He is very important,” Emery said. “Through him, we are getting the performance back because he links strikers with midfielders and wingers.

“Today he was fantastic in the second half, connecting with strikers and scoring the goals. He has to add goals to his numbers, and today he was fantastic.”

Sum up that Morgan Rogers performance for @AVFCOfficial against Man City 😮💨

📊 @Oracle | #AVLMCI pic.twitter.com/qyspymh7Ku

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024

“I think the performance overall was really good. We fought together, defended really well, and when we attacked, we did all the right things, made the right passes and choices, so it was a good performance,” Tielemans says.

“The plan was to lock everything up at the back. The guys at the back did really well today. Going forward, it helped me a lot knowing those two [Onana and Kamara] were behind me. I saw the space, and I knew I had space in behind their midfielders, so I asked for the ball from Martinez and then turned and passed into the space, and we finished it brilliantly.

“It is always difficult against City. They may have won less than the last few seasons, but they are a class side, and it’s a credit to us today that we showed great character and a good performance.”

“We made a really good first half, we had some problems and mistakes, and in the second half we dropped, we changed our pressing a bit,” Guardiola said post-match.

“Congratulations to Aston Villa, and we move on. I would not say we struggled with their press, but they followed their blocks with great physicality, we had good moments, and we had more chances than in the United game, but in the second half we dropped.

“We found a goal at the end, but it was too late. We are struggling to score, and we concede goals.”

“He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that,” Haaland says of Guardiola, who has been under pressure in recent weeks.

“He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him. We have to work harder than ever right now.”

City have lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions.

Haaland, who had very little impact in the game, says the team is disappointed after losing to Villa.

“They’re good players. It’s difficult to come here, but we’re Man City. We should be out there. We have to continue, we have to believe and we have to keep working hard,” Haaland told TNT Sports.

The Norwegian, who has scored only once in six games, also reflected on his form.

“We have to continue. First, I’m looking at myself. I haven’t been doing things good enough. I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better. I haven’t been good enough.”

City will host Everton on Thursday’s Boxing Day fixture, while Villa will play away to Newcastle United.

Aston Villa has inflicted more misery on Manchester City, defeating them 2-1 in the Premier League with goals from Jhon Duran and former City forward Morgan Rogers.

Villa leapfrogged City into fifth place in the Premier League table while Pep Guardiola’s shell-shocked holders dropped provisionally to sixth – and could drop as low as ninth by the end of the weekend – with their ninth loss in 12 games across all competitions.

A rip-roaring start saw Villa almost score inside 20 seconds before Duran got the home side on the score sheet in the 16th minute when Youri Tielemans sent a sumptuous through ball to Rogers, whose unselfish pass found Duran free to fire home. Former Villa super sub Duran started for the third successive league game and has scored in all three.

Villa Park erupted again in the 65th minute when Rogers latched onto a pass from captain John McGinn and finished with a low hard shot, leaving Guardiola to shake his head in frustration.

Phil Foden pulled one back for City in injury time after a mistake by Villa’s Lucas Digne.

City’s defence issues were on display once again as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

The reigning champions have slipped one spot to sixth in the standings, with 27 points from 17 matches.

Pressure is building on Guardiola to find a solution and turn their fortunes around.

9 – Manchester City have lost 9 of their last 12 games in all competitions (W1 D2). The last time other selected clubs had a run of 9 defeats in 12 games:

Chelsea – 25/05/2023
Tottenham – 26/12/1997
Arsenal – 23/03/1977
Man Utd – 16/12/1961
Liverpool – 23/01/1954

Unprecedented. pic.twitter.com/6Ls5Zw6poF

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2024

A formidable 2-1 win at home over holders Man City will be nothing less than an early Christmas present for Aston Villa fans.

The Birmingham-based club now has 28 points from 17 games and sits one spot outside the Premier League top four, only on goal difference.

The referee has blown the full-time whistle!

Aston Villa beat reigning champions Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park, thanks to goals from Duran and Rogers in each half. Foden scored a late goal for the visitors but it proved to be a consolation.

The result lifts Villa one spot up to fifth place, while City slip to the sixth spot.

City’s woeful run continues – they have now lost nine of their 12 matches in all competitions.