Enzo Maresca regrets costly mistakes as Villa ended Manchester City’s perfect league run

Enzo Maresca blamed two costly mistakes as Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday. City won all seven of their league games before the trip to Birmingham, but defensive errors from Marco Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma proved decisive as Nicolas Jackson scored twice for Villa.

Guehi’s poor touch in the sixth minute allowed John McGinn to win possession and set up Jackson, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner. City had plenty of possession and created several chances, but Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki kept them at bay with a series of saves.

Erling Haaland equalized for City shortly after half-time when he headed home Iliman Ndiaye’s cross from a free-kick. The Norwegian, who missed Tuesday’s 5-1 Champions League win over AEK Athens with a leg injury, continued his scoring run with his seventh goal in his last seven away league games.

Villa took the lead on the hour mark after Ibrahim Mbaye broke down the right and sent the ball back to Jackson. The striker’s low shot slipped under Donnarumma to leave City chasing the game again.

City pushed for an equalizer in the closing stages but Suzuki stood firm. Ian Maatsen also cleared Haaland’s header off the line as Villa held on for victory.

MARESCA FRUSTRATED WITH DEFENSE ERRORS

Maresca felt City did enough in attack to get the result but admitted the two goals conceded could have been avoided. “The overall performance was good, we created a lot of chances. Both goals were definitely avoidable,” said Maresca.

“Sometimes you have to be a bit more lucky because we only converted those two chances. But we created a lot of chances. We played most of the game in their box but you have to be clinical and avoid mistakes like the two goals conceded.”

Defeat will leave City on 21 points at the top of the table and Arsenal will be in a position to draw if they beat Everton later on Saturday.

Villa moved up to sixth place with 11 points after claiming their first home league win of the season. The win was also their fourth consecutive home league victory over City.

It was a welcome result for Unai Emery after Villa lost three of their first four league games. The manager was pleased with how his team rose to the challenge of taking on the league leaders.

“Today was a really good test, I was so excited for it,” Emery said. “Today is a step forward.

City must now focus on two games against Brighton and Hove Albion in quick succession. They face Brighton in the fourth round of the League Cup on Wednesday before meeting them again in the Premier League next Saturday.

“A top team, another one,” said City defender Ruben Dias. “A different way of playing, so we adapt and then focus on ourselves. That’s the main thing, our spirit, our will to win.”

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