Manchester City – Aston Villa: Game of Two Halves In Pep Farewell (1-2)

Things seemed routine for Manchester City in the first half of this game as they created chances with their positional play system which stretched Aston Villa’s defense with width. In the second half though, Villa’s depth-focused attacking play began to cut through City, with Ollie Watkins scoring twice.  

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

After a trophy-laden ten years at the club, during which he also heavily influenced the tactical landscape of English football, Pep Guardiola managed his final game for Manchester City as they hosted Aston Villa at the Etihad. Unai Emery’s side were meanwhile coming into this game on the back of lifting the Europa League in midweek and now looked to secure their fourth-place finish in the Premier League.

Guardiola’s final team selection at City was a rotated one. Rico Lewis, Rúben Dias, John Stones, and Nathan Aké made up the back four, while Nico González and Bernardo Silva formed the central midfield partnership. Ahead of them was a front four of Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, and Savinho.

Villa meanwhile started in a 4-2-3-1 shape with a back four of Andrés García, Victor Lindelöf, Tyrone Mings, and Ian Maatsen. Lamare Bogarde and Douglas Luiz partnered in central midfield, while an attacking midfield trio of Leon Bailey, Ross Barkley, and Emiliano Buendía played behind striker Ollie Watkins.

Trademark City

Since arriving at City, Guardiola has iterated through many variations of his positional play approach. The possession structure that he ended up favouring towards the closing stages of . . .