The Norway striker had two efforts in 30 seconds in the 11th minute, but both went wide as City were well outplayed by their high-flying hosts.

Champions Manchester City lost ground in the Premier League title battle on Wednesday night when they were severely thrashed by high-flying Aston Villa, with the 1-0 result not telling the whole picture.

City labored throughout, with their greatest chance coming after 11 minutes, when Erling Haaland was passed through on goal but was denied twice in a row by two brilliant Emiliano Martinez stops. That was their sole shot on goal for the whole 90-minute period.

Villa possessed the ball all the time and terrified City with world-class players making simple mistakes.

Indeed, as the game progressed, Villa appeared to be the only team capable of scoring, and Leon Bailey did just that, his long-range drive deflecting off Ruben Dias and into the back of the net.

Guardiola’s team finished fourth, six points behind leaders Arsenal and three points behind third-placed Villa.

Ederson (7 out of 10):

Denied Torres with a fantastic save and was relied upon frequently to keep City in the game. The deflection on Bailey’s shot defeated him. Blameless.

Kyle Walker (4 out of 10):

I struggled down the right at times and gave the ball away several times. Villa kept him in his own half, limiting his impact significantly.

Ruben Dias (5 out of 10):

Some superb interceptions, but lacked confidence against Ollie Watkins, who diverted Bailey’s effort beyond Ederson. Some of the play in front of him left him speechless.

Josko Gvardiol (6 out of 10):

In the first half, made a goal-saving tackle on Youri Tielemans after giving the ball away. Continued to make bold blocks and looked to enjoy the fast tempo of the game.

5/10 for John Stones:

On the stroke of half-time, I’m scheduled for a cynical challenge. He stepped into midfield when he could, but he couldn’t have much of an impact on the game because City was frequently overrun.

Manuel Akanji (4 out of 10):

Alongside Stones in a more advanced role, but couldn’t keep up with Villa’s tempo and was completely exhausted.

Bernardo Silva (5/10):

Always effective on the ball but seemed slightly uncomfortable on the right, and was marshalled well by Digne.

Rico Lewis (5/10):

Constantly on the move and willing to receive the ball. His influence waned, and he was booked for an obvious shirt pull on Douglas Luiz as he broke away and was subbed after the hour.

Phil Foden (4/10):

Some nice touches but an airshot rather summed up his evening, as he couldn’t get the final ball right. Subbed for Oscar Bobb with 20 minutes left.

Julian Alvarez (4/10):

Did his best to drop in and link play but was feeding off scraps and could not find Haaland with any regularity. Subbed. A frustrating evening.

Erling Haaland (2/10):

Denied by a superb Martinez double save early on but that was his only impact. His shots came in the 11th minute, and thereafter, he was completely anonymous – due in large part to Villa’s superb defending.