Man City had the lowest number of shots of a Pep Guardiola team EVER in the top flight in their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa and didn’t shoot after the 11th minute… as statistics reveal just how badly the champions were dominated
- Manchester City’s defeat to Aston Villa is one of the worst in its history.
- Only Barcelona B saw Pep Guardiola’s side take fewer shots in the league.
- CHRIS SUTTON: I’d be as angry as Erling Haaland, but why did six or seven City players go to the referee? It all begins
Manchester City had the fewest shots taken by Pep Guardiola’s top team ever in their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
City’s two shots were the lowest total of any Guardiola team, and the 22 shots they faced was the most his team had ever faced.
Leon Bailey’s deflected strike was enough to separate the sides as Villa beat City on Wednesday night in a remarkable performance.
City’s defeat, which dropped them to fourth in the Premier League, shows just how well Unai Emery has done in the Midlands.
Guardiola oversaw City, Barcelona and Bayern, but only Barcelona B had one of his teams take fewer shots on goal.
Manchester City had just two shots against Aston Villa, the lowest total for Pep Guardiola’s side in top-flight history.
Villa thwarted City and didn’t concede a shot in 11 minutes and also had the most shots against Guardiola’s side in a top-flight match (22).
The Premier League champions failed to strike in the 11th minute as Villa stormed their penalty area.
But the gloomy reading doesn’t end there.
According to Opta, Guardiola has played 281 league games under City, but against Villa they had the 23rd lowest possession rate (53.9%).
They also made the 25th most successful passes with 454.
This is a far cry from their previous record totals: against Swansea in 2018 they made a staggering 942 passes.
This is all a huge compliment to Aston Villa, who have now won 14 home Premier League games.
Villa are third in the league and also third in the calendar year table, with eight points less than City in 2023 and two less than Arsenal.
Bailey may have flown under the radar behind Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby, but he now has eight goals to his name in all competitions.
This is already his best earnings since his £30 million move from Bayer Leverkusen in July 2021.
Guardiola has managed top clubs for fourteen and a half seasons but has never seen one of his teams take just two shots.
Leon Bailey scored the only goal as Aston Villa dominated the Premier League.
It was a disappointing evening for Erling Haaland, whose two games without a goal is almost a drought by his exceptional standards.
