Aston Villa were blown away by Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Etihad Stadium, seeing one of Unai Emery’s stars fail his audition to impress.
It was a night to forget for Aston Villa, who lost 4-1 to Manchester City in a game that saw Pep Guardiola’s treble winners dominate.
Unai Emery opted to heavily rotate his side, making six changes to the XI that he fielded against Wolves which made the night look like a challenge for the Villans even before kick-off.
That being said, the visitors certainly imposed themselves at the Etihad, cancelling out Rodri’s 11th-minute opener through Jhon Duran, who levelled the scoring less than 10 minutes later.
The Colombian combined expertly with Morgan Rogers to dispatch his well-worked goal, with Nicolo Zaniolo also having a hand in orchestrating the break in the build-up.
With all the hard work that Zaniolo showed in the first half, his efforts to generate play were crushed before the interval as he let himself and his team down.
Nicolo Zaniolo had a night to forget against Manchester City
Branded as “embarrassing” for his decision to turn his back and break down Villa’s wall that attempted to defend Phil Foden’s free kick, Zaniolo’s actions allowed the Englishman to bury the ball beyond Robin Olsen.
Foden’s goal came moments before the half-time whistle, seeing Villa’s efforts in the first half destroyed as City then came out and blew the visitors away.
Aside from his sparks of promise in the first half, it was a bad day at the office for Zaniolo, who was handed a rare start from Emery with the chance to impress.
Performance analyst and content creator, Jack Fawcett, dubbed the Italian as “tragic” for his actions against Manchester City, as his numbers reflected his below-par evening at the Etihad.
As per Sofascore, the 24-year-old won just 22% of his duels, and made only 25 touches on the ball in the 77 minutes he played, completing none of his attempted dribbles and losing possession nine times.
Nicolo Zaniolo might have blown his chance to impress
Awarded a 5.7 Sofascore match rating, the Italy international was graded to be Villa’s worst performer on the night, with his actions during Foden’s free kick forming a rain cloud over what could have been a positive night for the player.
Given that Zaniolo has started only eight games this season, it’s clear that the Galatasaray loanee is yet to win over the trust of Emery, with Wednesday night’s display not helping his course.
With the fixtures coming thick and fast, there may still be an opportunity for the loanee to impress however, he will face an even greater challenge than what he was presented with prior to kick-off at the Etihad.
