Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has suggested that Aston Villa are title challengers following their 1-0 win over the champions.
It was a dream day for Aston Villa as they secured a famous win over Manchester City at Villa Park this midweek. This saw the Villans move up to third place in the Premier League and secure their 14th consecutive home win.
It was a visual representation of Unai Emery’s time at the club which has seen the Villans go from strength to strength. Securing Europa Conference League was the first step last season and now Champions League is on the cards.
For the most part in recent weeks, Villa fans have jokily suggested that the Villans are in a title race. Given that they are four points off top spot at this stage in the season, it is becoming more accepted.
Following the victory against the treble winners, there have been more and more conversations about Villa and the title race.
What has Pep Guardiola said?
It is safe to say that Emery’s Villa played Pep Guardiola’s City off the pitch in B6. Reducing the Premier League champions to just two shots is quite amazing. Despite having less possession, they weren’t afforded the space to create anything on the night.
The win saw the Villans move above their opponents and into third place which has caught people’s eye. This sees Villa two points above City, two and four points behind Liverpool and Arsenal respectively.
With all that being said, John Townley has reported on X that Guardiola has made a statement about Villa’s title credentials.
On that, he said: “Yes, definitely. For the way they are playing, their physicality, their speed, the bench, Unai Emery, their mid-block, set-pieces. Definitely.”
Let’s not get this twisted, this is a huge compliment given the pedigree that the Spaniard has. He has done an unbelievable job with his side and winning the treble is no mean feat.
It just didn’t go their way on the night, Villa got in their faces and didn’t afford them any time or space to think. John McGinn was on top of his game, Leon Bailey was pressing from the front and Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa were superb.
The win saw Villa move up the table and cement their top-four spot for the time being. Although a title race may be slightly beyond them, there’s no shame in dreaming is there?
