Maresca: Manchester City did not deserve Aston Villa defeat

Enzo Maresca says Manchester City were unfortunate to lose 2-1 to Aston Villa in the English Premier League, despite creating more chances and spending much of the match in the hosts’ penalty area.

The result was Manchester City’s first league defeat of the season, coming in the fourth round of the competition.

Maresca acknowledged that his side could have defended the decisive moment more effectively after Aston Villa scored from a counter-attack in the second half.

“The overall performance was good, as was the number of chances we created,” Maresca told Sky Sports.

“In the second half, we conceded from a counter-attack and we should have dealt with that defensive situation a little better. Perhaps we also needed a bit of luck during that attack, but that is football. We will learn from it.”

The Manchester City manager said Aston Villa had created only two opportunities, while his team had produced numerous attacking situations.

“Sometimes you need a little luck, especially because we only allowed them two chances, whereas we created many chances and attacking situations,” he added.

Maresca admitted Manchester City should have been more clinical when opportunities presented themselves and urged the team to cut out mistakes.

“We played most of the match inside their penalty area, and we needed to make better use of the chances we had,” he said. “We have to avoid making mistakes.”

Despite the defeat, Maresca maintained that the performance did not justify the result and said Manchester City would aim to improve their record at Villa Park next season.

“We will try to change the team’s record next season at Villa Park,” he said.

“I was not here in the past, but I can analyse only today’s match. We did not deserve to lose, but we lost.”