Aston Villa failed to increase the gap from Tottenham Hotspur last night, as they suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Unfortunately, Unai Emery’s side weren’t able to mirror the incredible game plan that helped them win 1-0 earlier on in the season, but the absence of some key players certainly played a role.
Rodri opened the scoring just after the tenth minute, and it looked like Villa had little belief that they could win the game until Jhon Duran equalised in the 20th minute.
However, from that point on, it was the Phil Foden show, and he took home the match ball. In truth, it was a game to forget for the entire Villa squad, but one player in particular struggled to put his stamp on the game, even having fewer touches than Robin Olsen.
Robin Olsen’s performance vs Man City
With first-choice keeper Emi Martinez missing out entirely on Wednesday due to illness, the Swedish shot-stopper started just his second Premier League game of the campaign.
Going into the tie, the 34-year-old will have anticipated that he would be in for an extremely busy evening, but in all honesty, he impressed and was one of the best on the field.
Olsen’s passing wasn’t exactly direct and accurate, but that’s expected when heavily pressed. However, he wasn’t afraid to receive the ball, taking 54 touches throughout.
Furthermore, had it not been for some great shot-stopping ability, City could have hit the back of the net at least a couple more times, with the number 25 making seven saves, with six of those being inside the box.
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ByTom Lever Nicolo Zaniolo’s stats against Man City
There’s no two ways about it: Nicolo Zaniolo struggled to impact the game at all on Wednesday night, but unfortunately, that’s been the case for the majority of the season.
The Italian, who’s on loan from Galatasaray, has played in 22 Premier League matches this campaign, starting just eight and often being used as a late substitute.
However, he was handed an opportunity to thrive at the Etihad by Emery, starting on the left of a 4-2-3-1 with the task of providing a threat on the break and helping Lucas Digne stop Jeremy Doku.
Yet neither of the above happened, which Birmingham World highlighted by handing him a 4/10 rating, and stating:
'Merely a bystander in the build-up to Rodri’s opener, broke up the Villa wall for Foden’s goal and was schooled by Doku on several occasions.'
Passes completed
11
Touches
26
Possession lost
9
Successful dribbles
0/2
Shots
1
Duels won
3/10
Dribbled past
2
Furthermore, as you can see by the table above, the former Roma prospect found it difficult to get into the game at all, having 26 touches throughout, which is almost half of Olsen’s tally in between the sticks.
Zaniolo also lost the ball on nine separate occasions, often losing his individual battles and failing to retain the ball for his side via his dribbling, as displayed by the fact that his completion rate was 0%.
The 24-year-old did have one attempt at goal, but it was a rather tame effort in the second half that was blocked easily when other options were available.
The midfielder did make three tackles even though he was dribbled past twice, and his evening concluded in the 77th minute due to an injury.
Unfortunately for Zaniolo, this game was just the latest addition to his catalogue of disappointing performances since joining on loan, and in truth, Emery must immediately drop the number 22 ahead of Saturday’s clash with Brentford.
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