Aston Villa ended Manchester City's winning streak in the English Premier League with a 2-1 victory at home in the match between the two teams, on Saturday, with Nicholas Jackson scoring a goal in each half to inflict a severe defeat on coach Enzo Maresca's players, amid unrest surrounding the club outside the field due to the currently pending financial issue.
Manchester City remains at the top of the standings with 21 points, but this setback opens the door for Arsenal to equal its tally later on Saturday, when it hosts Everton, with an opportunity to reduce the three-point difference.
Unai Emery's team rose to sixth place with 11 points, achieving its first league win this season at Villa Park, and also achieving its third consecutive league victory over Manchester City, which is playing under a conviction ruling for committing 114 violations of the English Premier League's financial rules. Manchester City has always denied any wrongdoing.
Jackson took advantage of two blunders from Manchester City, and opened the scoring in the sixth minute when a strong touch from defender Mark Guy allowed Aston Villa captain John McGinn to pounce and pass the ball to the striker, who shot it into the bottom corner.
Erling Haaland equalized shortly after the break, when he headed in a cross from Elimane Ndiaye following a free kick. But Jackson scored the winning goal in the 60th minute, when Ibrahim Mbaye ran from the right side before passing the ball to his Senegalese colleague, who shot it and the ball passed under goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
A series of brilliant saves from Aston Villa's Japanese goalkeeper, Zion Suzuki, helped seal the home team's victory.
Andoni Iraola, the coach of the English football team, Liverpool, urged the young player, Rio Ngomoha, to ignore the increasing attention he is receiving, and focus on his performance on the field.
British news agency PA Media reported that Ngumoha (18 years old) won the Best Player of the Match award after making two goals during the win over Villarreal in the Champions League in midweek, a few days after he came on as a substitute and contributed to changing the course of the match against Brentford.
Ngomoha has been in the spotlight since his transfer from the Chelsea Academy in 2024, and while his career has witnessed continuous development since his first appearance with the first team in the FA Cup in January of last year, his status has risen to a new level over the past few weeks.
Iraola realizes that the vicissitudes of football may expose the young player to some obstacles in his career, so he tries to help him maintain his humility and not get carried away by the increasing interest in him.
Iraola said: “I believe that every player should focus on his performance, continue to provide good levels, and work on developing the areas in which he can improve.”
He added: “I think that media hype and external criticism or praise of course affect the players, but we must not allow these things to affect us.”
He continued: “You must continue to perform your work in the best possible way, and try to develop the aspects that you can improve, and not be too influenced by what you hear.”
He explained: “When you perform well, people will praise you, and when you perform poorly, you will be criticized, but do not let these matters greatly affect your level, because performance remains in the end the most important factor.”
Ngomoha's brilliance and his increasing importance to the team this season was helped by the presence of his teammates Trey Nyonyi and Luis Comas, who also graduated from the club's academy, and in turn received ample opportunities to participate, as the coach sought to manage the playing minutes of a number of the most experienced players.
“I think the young players support each other,” Iraola said before facing Brighton, which is having a strong season. You can see this directly, even during the pre-season, as the players who participated in the matches looked at each other and praised the performance of their colleagues.
He added: “When they see someone starting in the Champions League or the English Premier League, it may not be their turn yet, but they feel that they are close to getting the same opportunity.”
Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim hopes that his Italian team, Milan, will be able to recover quickly after the humiliating defeat against English club Bournemouth.
Milan suffered a harsh defeat, 0-3, in their Europa League match at the Vitality Stadium, on Thursday, after goalkeeper Mike Maignan was sent off in the first half.
Coach Amorim's team does not have much time to think; He returns to competition on Sunday against Udinese in the Italian League, but the Portuguese coach hopes to learn his lesson.
The former Manchester United coach said: “I will address every detail of the match to improve performance and avoid repeating these mistakes.”
He added, as reported by the British news agency (BA Media): “This is my job, but we do not have much time to think about that with only two days remaining between the two matches.”
He continued: “We have to focus on the Udinese match, what we can improve, and what we can avoid.”
