CITY SUFFER AS HITMAN ERLING HAS AN OFF DAY

Pep Guardiola must have been concerned with how pedestrian his team seemed.

- BY ANDY DUNN

AS is the way in modern football, it does not have to be a goal to provoke scenes of raucous celebration.

A standard tackle by a touchline can get you a fist-bump nowadays.

But Pau Torres deserved all the emotional congratulations that came his way when he somehow diverted Savinho’s goal-bound strike over his own crossbar midway through the second half.

And that one piece of defending symbolised a Villa performance that put talk of Manchester City's rejuvenation into context.

This still does not look like a City team that will be going toe-to-toe with title contenders this season.