City beat Villa 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium but Guardiola was frustrated by the goalless first half
Saturday 26 October 2019 22:25, UK
Pep Guardiola praised Raheem Sterling but predicted relegation if Manchester City continue to play like they did in the first half of their 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Second-half goals from Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan saw City ease home in the end despite Fernandinho's late red card, but City boss Guardiola was not fully satisfied.
"If we play like we did in the second half, we will be there at the end of the season, I am sure of that," he said. "If we play how we played in the first half, we will be relegated in the relegation positions far away from the top of the table.
"We have to play for the 90 minutes. We played just for 45."
It was Sterling's goal just 20 seconds after the restart that brought the breakthrough and Guardiola was full of praise for the in-form Manchester City forward.
"The only person who was aggressive when we had the ball was Raheem," he said in reference to his team's first-half performance. "In the second half, we imitated him."
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith was similarly impressed.
"Sterling, for me, is pretty much unplayable at the moment, such is his form," said Smith. "He not only gets in behind but he can check at full pelt too."
Even so, it was some poor defending that allowed Sterling to score his 13th goal of the season in all competitions with Gabriel Jesus somehow beating Tyrone Mings in the air.
"For all Manchester City's intricate football this was a 70-yard punt from the goalkeeper and defensively we didn't deal with it," said the Villa boss.
"Tyrone should have dealt with the header but if he doesn't then Bjorn (Engels) and Fred (Guilbert) should have been in a better position to deal with that.
"We were the happier team at half-time and I wanted more of the same but 45 seconds in and the hard work is undone."
City's second goal was initially awarded to Kevin De Bruyne, but David Silva was later - around an hour after the match - credited with getting a touch on the Belgian's left-wing cross.
The decision frustrated Smith given that Sterling appeared to be in an offside position - and in front of Tom Heaton - when Silva attempted to play the ball. The VAR delay was lengthy.
"There were a few in the first half - four handballs, two for them and two for us," said Smith after the final whistle. "I never expected them to be given because they were subjective decisions.
"But when I get back in at full-time and see that, it is probably a get out of jail for the officials [to give the goal to De Bruyne] because David Silva touches it.
"He goes away celebrating that he has touched it. And when he does touch it, Sterling is in an offside position in front of the goalkeeper."
Guardiola was less keen to talk VAR afterwards.
"All the managers have responsibility to talk about the VAR," he said. "We are managers. Speak to the referees, please. Speak with the guys who create that system and do that.
"Don't ask me. We cannot review the image. The image is from London with one guy there. Ask the referees. Why do us managers have to answer about the decisions all the time? Put them in a media conference and ask them."
He was more chatty on the subject of Jack Grealish - but claimed that Manchester City cannot afford to sign the Aston Villa captain.
"He is incredible. He is an incredible, top player," added Guardiola.
"I am happy that he is an Aston Villa player who had offers to move on but decided to stay in the Championship. I like that they were promoted to the Premier League and he defended his club.
"He is a talented player. His passing in the final third, his vision. He is always creating something. He is exceptional. But too expensive for Manchester City."
Smith also saw positives in the performance of his team's skipper. "He did really well," he added. "He carried the ball to them and showed good bits of play defensively as well as offensively. All in all it was a decent performance."
City now host Southampton in the Carabao Cup round of 16 at 7.45pm on Tuesday evening again, and then face the Saints again on Saturday at 3pm in the Premier League. Villa host Wolves on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup round of 16 at 7.45pm, and then welcome Liverpool on Saturday at 3pm in the Premier League.
