Pep Guardiola makes big promise after Man City crisis continues with Aston Villa defeat
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Pep Guardiola has promised to change his approach after Manchester City's torrid run of form continued with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Unai Emery's side were a class above throughout the showdown, with goals from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers enough to secure victory.
City have now won just one of their last 12 matches across all competitions.
Their hopes of winning the Premier League title for the fifth year on the trot are all but over, with Liverpool nine points ahead at the summit with two games in hand.
Pep Guardiola has promised to change his approach after Manchester City's torrid run of form continued with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday
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Speaking after the game, Guardiola was quizzed on whether he was going to change his approach as he looks to turn things around.
The Spaniard confirmed he would be experimenting, telling TNT Sports: "Yeah. I have to do it. Back my players, that is what will be different."
City withdrew John Stones at half time, with the England international struggling to contain Duran.
When asked about the defender, Guardiola added: "We make a really good first half, second half we dropped.
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"We changed our pressing for the reason John [Stones] could not continue. Congratulations Aston Villa and keep going."
One positive for City will be seeing Phil Foden getting back on the scoresheet.
It has been a tough campaign for the England star so far, with the player now finally up and running for the season.
And Guardiola hailed Foden, with the City boss adding: "The last one or two games, he has been better.
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"Most of the players have had problems. Sometimes the next season is not the same, the people change and the situation changes.
"Today we made a really good game."
Villa boss Unai Emery, meanwhile, was thrilled with his side's victory.
Prior to last season, they'd had to wait a decade to get the better of City. Now, they've beaten them two years on the trot.
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Pep Guardiola was left frustrated as Man City lost to Aston Villa on Saturday
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Reacting to the win, the former Arsenal, Villarreal, PSG and Sevilla boss said: "Always we are trying to be positive, in some matches we are maybe not performing as we want, but today we perform.
"We are feeling strong, here we played the first half very well, in the second half we kept possession more and getting in the box to score the second goal, we imposed and dominated more."
Emery also singled out Rogers for praise, insisting the 22-year-old is 'very important' for him as he looks to guide Villa into the Champions League for the second year in a row.
He added: "He played fantastic today, he is very important.
Pep Guardiola's Man City were poor in their defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday
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"Through him we are getting the performance back because he links strikers with midfielder and wingers.
"Today he was fantastic in the second half, connecting with strikers and scoring the goals. He has to add goals to his numbers, and today he was fantastic."
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