Manchester City lost 0-1 to Aston Villa in the ninth round of the 2025/26 Premier League season, conceding a goal in the first half. Guardiola said Aston Villa is a top team and he is not worried about Manchester City's goal-scoring problem.

In the 19th minute, Buendia made a cross, and Cash at the top of the penalty area received the ball and scored with a long shot, helping Aston Villa take the lead 1-0.

In the 89th minute of the second half, Malmush received the ball and passed it across the goal. Haaland pushed the ball into the goal, but Malmush was offside and the goal was ruled invalid.

In the end, Manchester City lost 0-1 to Aston Villa away.

Manchester City manager Guardiola said in an interview, "We have scored a lot of goals this season, and Haaland has certainly contributed a lot. However, Aston Villa used five defenders in this game, but Savio and Doku also created a lot of crosses."

“We also saw Foden attacking a lot and Reinders was also involved. We created chances and were very close, and it was mainly about the high press.”

Guardiola also said, "Aston Villa has players like Morgan Rogers, Kamara and McGinn. They are a Champions League level team, a very top team, but we competed very well. I won't say that the performance was bad just because we didn't equalize the score. The team was in very good shape in the second half."

"They defended well and we were dangerous in several attacks with Foden, Doku, Savio and Oscar Bob. We had a lot of chances but we couldn't finish them in the end, but they defended really well and that's how it goes sometimes."

In addition, Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva said, "This game is frustrating because we hoped for a different result. The team is in good shape and has good momentum. We have to pay tribute to the opponent. They are a very strong team with many excellent players. They have worked with Emery for a long time, so they know very well what they should do."

"I also think we started the game really well but then things got more open and we had more transitions because we allowed them to have those chances."