MATCH STATS
ANOTHER victory full of goals and sparkling football took Manchester City back to within three points of Liverpool at the top of the table.
Was manager Pep Guardiola a satisfied man? You must be joking.
Pep the perfectionist was so fed up with City’s first-half performance that he warned his superstars they would slide towards the relegation zone if they play so poorly.
Goals from Raheem Sterling, a Kevin De Bruyne strike credited to David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan that eventually downed spirited Aston Villa were far from his thoughts.
“I am not concerned about the table and how many points we have,” said Guardiola.
“I am concerned about the way we play. If we play like in the first half we will be in the relegation positions far from leading the table.
“We had a good 45 minutes in the second half but we have to play for 90 minutes.
“We have to be aggressive. The only one in the first half was Raheem. He showed us how to play. I am so proud of him.”
Guardiola was less concerned about a late red for Fernandinho, booked a second time for a tactical foul. The defensive midfielder will only miss only a midweek Carabao Cup tie.
Sterling was a constant threat throughout, raiding with dynamism and panache on the left flank – and creating first-half chances for Gabriel Jesus and David Silva. Both times the shot flashed inches wide of the woodwork.
There had been much anticipation about whether Jack Grealish could make an impact against the champions after his fine start to the season and England manager Gareth Southgate had come to have a look as well.
Grealish had a couple of incisive moments on the break but was lucky to escape a red card for a clear foul on David Silva, having earlier been booked for dissent. It was very similar to Fernandinho’s foul that brought a dismissal.
The best chance in the opening period for Villa fell to John McGinn, who intercepted a poor pass out of defence by John Stones. His shot brought a diving save from Ederson.
But Villa could not afford to spurn such moments.
It took just 23 seconds at the start of the second half for City to take the lead. Inevitably, it involved Sterling, even if this was a route-one goal, so rare for a Guardiola team.
Ederson booted a long ball, Jesus beat Tyrone Mings in the air and his flick sent Sterling clear to slip the ball past keeper Tom Heaton. Mings later atoned slightly with a remarkable clearance off the line to deny Jesus when the striker looked certain to score.
It was a short reprieve for Villa with the hosts now in commanding form.
They went 2-0 ahead in the 65th minute when De Bruyne curled a low, angled shot through a crowd of players into the net. Goal said the ref. Hang on said VAR. The review took an age. Did it hit a player and was Sterling offside as he moved across the keeper’s eyeline?
Both sets of fans were so fed up with the delay they chanted f**k VAR. And who could blame them? The goal was eventually allowed to stand.
Pep is fed up with VAR too. “Don’t ask me about that,” he said. “Ask the referees and the people who make the decisions. Don’t ask us managers.”
Five minutes later Gundogan scored a third, firing the ball low into the net after a penalty-area scramble.
Villa boss Dean Smith knew his team were well beaten but disputed the second goal. He said: “I would question that one. “I think Sterling is offside and impedes the goalkeeper from making the save.
“But we will learn a lot from this game playing against a side as good as City. We need to keep improving.”