Manchester City's struggles continued as the Premier League champions were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon. Pep Guardiola's side were firmly second best at Villa Park, as the Citizens dropped to sixth place in the table.
Six defeats in the past eight Premier League fixtures is all you need to know to understand the suffering Guardiola's men are going through at the minute. A large part of the failure to keep pace at the top of the table is put down to the season-ending ACL injury suffered by Rodri earlier in the campaign.
Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic have looked lost at times trying to fill in for the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner in the middle of the park. Not only have the English side looked extremely open defensively, but a usually well-oiled machine has looked out of ideas in attack.
It's been well-documented that Cole Palmer's move to Chelsea from Man City is one of the bigger mistakes Guardiola and the decision-makers at the Etihad have made in recent times. The loss against the Villans proved that the decision to let Morgan Rogers leave for a nominal fee could also be coming back to haunt them.
Morgan Rogers vs Manchester City
The midfielder was outstanding against his former team
Morgan Rogers
While he only had 54 touches through the 90 minutes, Rogers felt like he was everywhere as his driving runs through the middle of the park caused City's midfielders all sorts of problems. The young Englishman made his mark early on as his well-timed run was spotted by Youri Tielemans before he laid it on a plate for Jhon Duran's 16th-minute opener.
Guardiola may have been sat on the sidelines scratching his head at how he and his employers allowed such a talent to slip through their fingers. Time and time again, Rogers made lung-bursting runs forward to drag his side up the pitch on the counter-attack as he completed three of his five attempted dribbles.
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He wasn't just on the pitch to get as close to Duran as possible when Unai Emery's side went forward, but the England Under-21s star put in an almighty defensive shift against the possession-dominant Citizens. The midfielder won six out of his 10 attempted ground duels.
The final nail in the visitors' coffin came when their former youth academy product strode past Kyle Walker before firing a low left-footed drive past Stefan Ortega to double the Villans' advantage. That goal proved to be the match-winner as the away side pulled one back through Phil Foden in stoppage time.
Morgan Rogers vs Man City
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Guardiola must feel like he's been stuck between a rock and a hard place during his tenure in England. The pressure to succeed - which he has done with flying colours - is so intense at a club like City these days that it's always difficult for managers to truly show faith in the youngsters at their disposal.
The Catalan-born tactician is certainly not averse to thrusting a talented youth player into the mix if he feels they deserve the opportunity. Just look at Phil Foden. However, he was forced to admit that the reason behind Cole Palmer's determination to exit the club was due to a lack of first-team minutes.
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Similarly, players such as Romeo Lavia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis also departed in recent years in search of game time. They have done just that, too, as both men are performing for Premier League clubs this season with the former being exactly what City need in the engine room right now.
Rogers evidently isn't the only player to have been overlooked on the blue side of Manchester, but he's definitely making sure his old club know exactly what they're missing. After the game, the 22-year-old told TNT Sports:
"To a man, I thought we were outstanding and I think we deserved the win. I try to thrive in big games and I want to show what I am about - it is nice to perform in the big games."
Rogers' Impressive Season Continues
He's become indispensable to Emery
The game against City wasn't the first time home supporters have been treated to a brilliant display by the box-to-box midfielder this term. The £75,000-per-week ace has played in 16 of Aston Villa's 17 Premier League fixtures and all six Champions League games so far.
He's become undroppable in the role just behind the striker, with his four league goals and two assists adding extra firepower beyond Duran and Ollie Watkins' exploits at the business end of the pitch. His confidence will have been done no harm by his enthralling display at Villa Park, and he'll carry that into the next match against Newcastle United on Boxing Day.
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Sofascore. Correct as of 21-12-24.