Unai Emery's Aston Villa trumped Pep Guardiola's struggling Manchester City, and the Basque manager has opened up on the crucial Premier League win.

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Villa beat City 2-1Champions' poor form continuesEmery acknowledged difference in confidenceFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Manchester City headed to Villa Park on Saturday in search of just their second victory in 14 games. However, it wasn’t to be as Aston Villa won 2-1against Guardiola’s side with goals from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers. Emery has now opened up on how his side worked on exploiting the defending Premier League champions’ vulnerability.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT EMERY SAID

Speaking to the media, Emery said: "In the second half their confidence was going down and ours was increasing. It was fantastic how the players responded to everything we had worked on before.

"We were defending too low in the first half and we had to get into a good position to try to stop them dominating the ball. We defended well all game but we played with more personality in the second half than we did in the first.

"In the first 30 minutes, Manchester City played fantastic. If they had scored in that period then maybe they would have recovered their confidence but the second half was completely different.

"We dominated, we scored and through those circumstances they (City) were feeling worse than in the first half, and then there was the result as well."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

City’s troubles seem to have no end at the moment as Guardiola’s men struggle to find their feet in both the Premier League and the Champions League. In the league, City sit one point behind fifth-placed Villa and are now surely out of the title race for the season, and may even be battling for Champions League qualification.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY?

Guardiola’s men have an easier outing on paper next time out as they will face Everton on Boxing Day at the Etihad Stadium.