Following their blistering starts to the season, both sides have hit a lull recently, and this fixture presented them with an opportunity to reignite their campaigns. It was Villa who looked likeliest to overturn their form as the Villans got off to a lively start.
Jhon Durán found himself through on goal after Joško Gvardiol misplaced a pass to send the Colombian through but the striker panicked and his early effort was saved by Stefan Ortega. From the resulting corner, the goalkeeper made an exceptional save onto the bar, magnificently denying a Pau Torres header.
City failed to take heed of those warnings though as Unai Emery’s men opened the scoring on 16 minutes. Morgan Rogers broke through the heart of the City defence and squared the ball to Durán, who slotted past a helpless Ortega.
After falling behind, Pep Guardiola’s men gained control of the contest as they dominated possession, with ex-Villa man Jack Grealish seeing a lot of the ball, yet as they have done in recent weeks, City failed to convert their dominance into goal-scoring chances.
Gvardiol had an opportunity before HT but his header was always rising after being picked out by Grealish.
The beginning of the second half was very similar to the first, as Villa came flying out of the traps and had a flurry of chances in the opening moments.
First, Matty Cash fired into the side netting following a quick counter-attack, before Durán raced through on goal and fired past Ortega, only to see his would-be goal ruled out for offside.
The home side were in total control after the restart and City were left sleeping on the hour mark as Rogers created space in the box, clipping the post with a low strike.
Guardiola’s men simply did not get started in the second half and Villa deservedly doubled their lead in the 65th minute after Rogers broke into the City half, combining with John McGinn before sliding the ball into the far corner.
Apart from a speculative long-range effort from Phil Foden, the away side rarely failed to trouble Emiliano Martínez. Instead, Villa looked likely to add a third, as Ollie Watkins had a shot saved at the near post from Ortega.
Foden eventually pulled a goal back in stoppage time – his first PL goal of the campaign – but it was nothing but a consolation.
Regardless, Emery’s men saw out three points against the reigning PL champions, whose defence is getting poorer with each passing week.
A second win in 18 H2H meetings sends Villa above City in the league table into fifth place, with the Villans unbeaten in eight league games at home since their opening-day defeat to Arsenal.