It is a performance that will be talked about for years, and certainly one that will be analysed in the Premier League and beyond for as long as Pep Guardiola coaches.
If that sounds like hyperbole, you need only look at the series of stats that followed Aston Villa’s 1-0 over Manchester City at Villa Park, which took Unai Emery’s side above the champions in the table.
Villa had 20 more shots than City. Twenty-two to two. And in this Guardiola’s 535th top-flight game as a head coach, this is the joint most his side have ever faced, and the fewest his team have ever attempted.
“The better team won” were Guardiola’s first words in the press conference afterwards, an acknowledgement that they were outplayed for 90-plus minutes.
The sense that Villa would rue their missed chances did not come to fruition. For fans of both football and rugby union, parallels could be drawn from England’s World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand in 2019, as you watched the underdog comprehensively outperform the defending champions while still waiting, waiting, waiting for what was normally inevitable.
But just like the All Blacks then, it never came from City. Their two shots were in the 11th minute, and after three straight draws they fell flatter with a loss just one day after Guardiola talked up their title chances.
Now he is searching for the solution, the “change in dynamic” that will reignite their bid – which arguably begins with Kevin and ends with De Bruyne – and all the while gatecrashers Villa are reevaluating their goals after leapfrogging City.
Emery is not one to get carried away, with the Spaniard insisting Villa are “not really” title challengers, and while he may be right there, he is wrong about there being “seven teams in the table better contenders than us” – whether he is including Brighton or Chelsea in that list, we can leave open for debate.
He is wrong because he is humble, and because he is the exact reason Villa are where they are.
They are dancing to his tune, and while clubs facing City in the near future will marvel at Villa’s high defensive line and a high press that helped them win possession in the final third 13 times – another league record against Guardiola’s City – few teams are actually capable of replicating this unless they do so for the long-term. This was what Emery has been asking of his players since he arrived in October last year.
“We wanted to impose our game on Manchester City,” he said. “We did it more or less. Usually we are doing high press, here at home we are being successful. Of course, we had to be very organised doing it. We did a fantastic job.”
To impose your own game against the Treble winners is some feat. Of course, it is worth remembering Villa drew 2-2 at Bournemouth last time out, proving it is not all-conquering, but over the course of this year the consistency has remained – with only City and Arsenal picking up more points in 2023.
There are therefore similarities to be drawn from Newcastle’s previous campaign. After 15 games, Villa are currently two points better off than Eddie Howe’s side were in 2022-23, and we know where they ended up.
In the earlier stages of last season, Howe was likewise keen to play down his side’s chances, all too aware that thinking too far ahead could derail the positive momentum in the here and now. Villa have Arsenal next, so thinking about where they finish in May or where they could travel next season would be nothing short of foolish.
But again like Newcastle, with Kieran Tripper speaking last year of ignoring the outside noise, Villa’s players will not be allowed to get carried away because of who is in charge, a coach who has drilled home this sense of team, this sense that while individuals – like Leon Bailey against City – have the platform to shine, it is ultimately the collective output that determines results.
And going forward there is more to learn from Newcastle too, who around this time last season enjoyed a six-game winning run in the league before suffering a forgetful February – a winless month which included defeat in the Carabao Cup final and was followed by a defeat at Manchester City in March.
No shame in that, nor were the defeats to Manchester United or Liverpool beforehand, but with their games in hand Newcastle eventually wrestled back control of their top-four destiny, Howe rightly insisting he had seen enough in those losses to suggest their luck would turn.
The “pressure is a privilege” motto helped them secure Champions League football, and while Newcastle had the luxury of no European football, by the start of April neither did Liverpool or Tottenham, who by that point were on different trajectories – Liverpool’s top-four push too little too late, and Spurs unravelling under Antonio Conte.
Villa of course are juggling the league with the Europa Conference League, in which they are the favourites, but so far this has not had a detrimental effect, with their physio room currently lighter than their rivals around them.
Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings may be out for the season, but it is a testament to their depth that their absences have not been too keenly felt, and while injuries are among the uncontrollables that can strike a hammerblow to momentum – just ask Spurs – Villa will know they are riding on a high and must strike while those below them toil.
To continue on this path, like Newcastle they must leave speculation at the door, allow others to get carried away while quietly hoping it unravels elsewhere. More drama at Manchester United, for example, would do just nicely.
Villa must also ensure Villa Park remains a Tough Place To Go, as is often applied to St James’ Park, which is certainly the case right now given their run of 14 consecutive league wins at home.
“I’ve never seen the stadium rocking the way it was here,” Bailey said after his match-winner against City, and that must continue to carry Villa above – at the very least – that line in the table that separates Champions League teams from those who miss out.
With Arsenal next at home on Saturday, it could get even louder. It could be a week that Villa fans could talk about for decades.