Pep Guardiola credited a failure to be precise in the final third as the reason why Manchester City left Villa Park with just a point, rather than three, on Saturday.
City travelled to the Midlands to take on a struggling Aston Villa side that had lost four of its opening five matches, but were left frustrated as the hosts made City pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.
City failed to register a shot on target in the first half but Erling Haaland opened the scoring after half-time as City looked sharper and hungrier. However, the likes of Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden failed to take make the most of the opportunities City created and with 15 minutes left Villa equalised through Leon Bailey.
READ MORE: Man City players take Pep Guardiola instruction too far at Aston Villa
It was not objectively a bad performance from City - far from it - but for large swathes of the game their play lacked its usual slickness and clinical edge. Speaking after the game Guardiola was fairly pleased with his team's efforts, but was frustrated by their sloppy finishing.
"Defensively, I like everything. Good game. We conceded just one from one shot on target in 90 minutes.
"Offensively, in the final third, normally players who are so precise missed a lot. We were not precise in our final third touches and our simple things, especially in the first half. We had chances to score a second when the game was in our hands but didn't."
Asked whether he thought this Premier League season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive yet after five seasons of City and Liverpool dominance, Pep said he wasn't surprised.
"Just six games, many games to play, we know it’s always tough, it’s not my first season here, it’s my seventh. Games are tough away and at home."
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