Saturday morning saw Aston Villa battle Manchester City at their own stadium. City's recent poor form saw them concede a goal shortly after the start, and despite an equalizer, they ended up with a 1-2 loss, making it six defeats in eight consecutive league matches, and dramatically swapping places with Villa, who climbed up to fifth place and City, who dropped to sixth.
City's defense seemed to have lost its usual resilience, and just half a minute into the game, Zuhanduran met its Waterloo, then from a corner kick, Bertholis headed home, and it was only a heroic save by City keeper Steven Odiga in front of the white line that prevented the goal from being lost again.
However, in the 16th minute, City suffered another blow. Zuhanduran didn't manage to pass the ball to his teammates, but easily shot the ball into the empty net, 1:0, Villa lead. City were porous on the defensive end, but had nothing to show for it on the offensive end. Kialisch, who was booed by the fans, and Phil Cotton, who only had one shot on goal, but against the tight defense of Villa keeper Damian Martinez, the shot ended up in vain, and Villa took a one-goal lead at half time.
After the changeover, City still couldn't find the rhythm of offense. The game was out of reach until the 65th minute when Morgan Rogers took a pass from John McGuiness and scored again, 2:0. In the end, City ended up with a shot from Phil Cotton, but the 1-2 scoreline could not be changed.
