Unai Emery admitted Aston Villa took advantage of Manchester City's vulnerability after his team sent Pep Guardiola's men deeper into crisis.
Goals in either half from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers secured a ninth defeat in 12 games for City, who have won just once in this dreadful run.
Villa had won just two of their last eight games in the league, but they produced their best football of the season in the second half as City were blown away and Phil Foden's stoppage time provided no consolation.
“In the second half their confidence dropped and ours increased,” Emery said. “It was fantastic how the players responded to everything we had worked on before.
'In the first half we defended too low and had to get into a good position to prevent them from dominating the ball. We defended well throughout the match, but in the second half we played with more personality than in the first.
'Manchester City played fantastic in the first thirty minutes. Had they scored in that period they might have regained their confidence, but the second half was completely different.
'We dominated, scored and because of those circumstances they (City) felt worse than in the first half, and then there was the result.'
Comments