Erling Haaland was invisible up front, and Ilkay Gundogan endured a torrid evening in midfield as the faltering champions suffered their third consecutive defeat.
Manchester City's alarming slump continued with a lackluster 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, marking their ninth defeat in the last 12 matches across all competitions.
Villa, who famously toppled City at home last season in one of Guardiola's rare league losses, dominated proceedings from the first whistle. Jhon Duran nearly opened the scoring within a minute, only to be denied by Stefan Ortega. The City keeper then made a vital save, clawing a Pau Torres header off the line by the slimmest of margins.
The breakthrough came when Duran capitalized on a brilliant through-ball from the superb Youri Tielemans, courtesy of a clever assist from former City academy graduate Morgan Rogers. Despite holding plenty of possession, City lacked creativity, managing just two clear-cut chances in the opening half. Early in the second period, Duran found the net again, but an offside flag spared City further embarrassment. Villa remained patient, and their dominance paid off when Rogers glided past a porous City midfield to double the lead.
Phil Foden's stoppage-time strike offered faint consolation, but it wasn’t enough to salvage anything for City. The defeat sees them slip to sixth in the Premier League standings, now nine points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, who still have two games in hand.
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