Maresca: City not clinical enough in Villa defeat

Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at Aston Villa, going down 2-1 despite dominating possession and creating a raft of chances.

Nicolas Jackson scored twice either side of an Erling Haaland header, but City's inability to convert their opportunities proved costly. The visitors held 63% of the ball and registered seven shots on target to Villa's two.

"I think we deserved more from the game for the amount of chances that we created and for the chances we conceded," said manager Enzo Maresca after the final whistle.

Maresca pointed to a lack of sharpness in front of goal as the key failing. "We lost because we probably are not being clinical enough in their box," he added.

The Italian acknowledged that conceding on the counter-attack is difficult to avoid entirely, but felt City gave away the two goals too cheaply. "Sometimes you concede a goal from a mistake. The second goal again comes from transition, and over 45 minutes it's difficult to avoid that every time."

Despite the setback, City remain top of the Premier League table with 21 points from eight games. Maresca said the squad would review the performance and look to improve ahead of their next fixture.