Merry Christmas, Pep. For Manchester City and Guardiola, this was another painful defeat, an unthinkable ninth defeat in twelve games for a team that has gone from a formidable team to a fragile and weak one. City have now lost six of their last eight Premier League games, as many as they lost en route to the title in the 2020/21 season, the worst of their Championship campaign. They could even end the weekend in ninth place.

Guardiola, in a long black cape and boots, strolled towards the increasingly confused away fans. Then came a deep puffing of cheeks. These are difficult times. This was another triumph for Unai Emery and Villa. Jhon Durán and Morgan Rogers scored great goals and overwhelmed the visitors.

If Guardiola felt uneasy before kick-off, his players offered no reassurance. From the moment Phil Foden got the ball rolling halfway, Villa jumped on the front foot. Within 15 seconds, John McGinn chased down Josko Gvardiol and allowed Duran to shoot on goal. Durán’s shot was unusually weak, allowing Stefan Ortega to parry, but he probably fired it too early. From the resulting corner, Pau Torres shot a header towards the goal post, which Ortega somehow deflected and directed the ball onto the crossbar with his left hand, clearing it. Then came another awkward corner, this time deep, from Lucas Digne, which Ortega pushed over.

Villa introduced himself. Durán attempted another early, speculative shot from a throw-in from Digne and Manuel Akanji, starting with John Stones in central defense, had to cut the ball through to Durán after McGinn tried to pick out the Colombian striker at the back post. It wouldn’t be long before Duran continued his phenomenal goalscoring streak. After 16 minutes he clashed chests with Rogers after combining for Villa’s opening goal. It was a resounding Villa move, but from the city’s perspective, a devastating one. Villa City opened up with three sharp passes.

Emiliano Martínez fed Youri Tielemans, who successfully lured the pressing Stones out of position in the middle of the Villa half. Tielemans then whipped a pass through the middle of the City defense for Rogers to chase, and he unselfishly laid the ball off for Durán to finish. Durán, who has scored in all six games he has started this season, is now averaging a goal every 82 minutes in the league. At the end of the celebrations, Amadou Onana placed an imaginary crown on his head.

Rogers, who spent four years at City as a youngster after moving from West Brom, enjoyed overcoming challenges, overcoming opponents, launching attacks from deep and enjoying the general thrill of keeping the champions at bay. At some point just before half-time, Rogers burst forward from left-back after stealing the ball from a group of City jerseys, immediately leaving Foden crumpled and then pushing Silva out of the way.

This was another defeat for City. Working part-time as a ball boy, Guardiola side-footed the ball to Rico Lewis to allow a quick restart after Durán Bernardo Silva had taken the ball away. For a moment it seemed as if the Oles might intervene as early as the half-hour mark when Villa played cool triangles around a pedestrian City midfield. The City manager crouched in his technical area, pondering and struggling with his thoughts, his left hand supporting his chin as a Villa counterattack faltered at the last moment. Grealish and Foden sent their shots wide but City again had no bite.

Guardiola’s eyes were on the ground during the break as Grealish and Martínez exchanged words. Grealish was booed by locals and a member of the City’s security staff accompanied him down the tunnel, Martínez in the rearview mirror. Grealish, making this his first start at Villa Park since joining City in a £100million deal, suffered a few bumps and bruises but he and his team-mates appeared mentally scarred by the run. They never recovered.

Rogers denied Mateo Kovacic in the build-up to Villa’s second goal. He started and ended the move, sinking the ball in with a diagonal left-footed shot after McGinn had placed the ball on the edge of the box. Guardiola stood there in apparent shock before turning away in pain. Foden reduced the deficit late on but make no mistake: by City’s outstanding standards this was a 2-1 defeat.