Man City player ratings vs Aston Villa: Has anyone seen Erling Haaland?! Pep Guardiola's goal machine goes missing as electric Villans ensure champions lose more ground in title race

Champions Manchester City lost more ground in the Premier League title race as they were soundly beaten by high-flying Aston Villa on Wednesday night, with the 1-0 scoreline not telling the whole story.

City struggled throughout, with perhaps their best opening coming after 11 minutes, when Erling Haaland was sent through on goal and denied twice in succession by two brilliant Emiliano Martinez saves. Indeed, that was their only sight of goal for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

Villa continually had the ball, and more than rattled City, with world-class players making basic errors.

Indeed, in the second half, with the game wearing on, Villa looked like the only team capable of scoring, and Leon Bailey did just that - seeing his shot from range deflect off Ruben Dias and into the back of the net.

This was a dire performance from Guardiola's side, who are now fourth, behind third-placed Villa, and six points behind leaders Arsenal.

GOAL rates City's players from Villa Park...