Manchester City suffered their ninth defeat in 12 games with a daming 2-1 loss at Aston Villa.

Pep Guardiola is scrambling to stop the rot but the reigning Premier League champions’ latest performance was as rotten as they come, with an early goal from Jhon Duran and a second-half strike from Morgan Rogers putting Villa on course to a deserved victory before Phil Foden’s late consolation.

City are now sixth in the table, having been leapfrogged by Saturday’s opponents with an entire weekend of fixtures still to be played.

Here, Express Sport takes you through how each Blues player performed in the West Midlands…

Man City player ratings vs Aston Villa (4-2-3-1)

Stefan Ortega: 6

Two massive saves in the first 60 seconds, including a blinder to tip Pau Torres’ header onto the bar. But ultimately let in two goals and got closed down by Duran in the second half, nearly giving away another.

Rico Lewis: 6 (booked)

Combined well with Foden to create a decent chance but otherwise a relatively quiet game.

John Stones: 5 (Walker, 45)

Turned by Youri Tielemans who fired a superb through-ball to start the move which created Duran’s opener. Unclear whether his half-time sub was injury related or tactical.

Manuel Akanji: 6

Couldn’t miss with big switches over to Jack Grealish in the first half. But left a gap for Duran to run into for the game’s first goal, and got beaten too easily before Rogers hit the post.

Josko Gvardiol: 3 (booked)

Error straight from kick-off could easily have resulted in a goal. Not on the same page as his team-mates. Not convincing at all defensively and Villa players breezed past him all game.

Ilkay Gundogan: 3 (Savinho, 72)

Offered absolutely nothing in midfield and got caught dallying on the ball. A shell of the player City used to have on their hands.

Mateo Kovacic: 5 (Doku, 84)

Lost the run of Rogers, who set up Villa’s opener, and although City had control of the ball for much of the game, Kovacic and his team-mates were unable to do much with it.

Bernardo Silva: 6

A few nice little touches on the right flank, including a clever pass to create a shooting opportunity for Phil Foden.

Phil Foden: 7

Combined well with Lewis and forced Emi Martinez into a smart save. Smart turn in the second half before his long-distance shot sailed off target. A big slice of luck about his first Premier League goal of the season in second-half stoppage time, but took it well.

Jack Grealish: 7 (booked)

Probably City’s most dangerous attacker, which really isn’t saying much. Saw plenty of the ball early on and drew a yellow card out of Matty Cash. Put in a good cross for Gvardiol but he headed over. Went quiet in the second period.

Erling Haaland: 4

Offered very little and his hold-up play was poor. Haaland’s torrid run continues.

SUBS

Kyle Walker: 4

Skinned twice in the same move by Rogers for Villa’s second goal. Not a lot of good things happening for Walker of late.

Savinho: N/A

A late addition.

Jeremy Doku: N/A

A late addition.