Emery will be a little annoyed that Guardiola started with that width this time, stretching Villa’s back five until space appeared.
On Sunday, it took an hour of a narrow and claustrophobic match for Guardiola to bring on Grealish and Jeremy Doku, who provided pure width to pull Arsenal out of their shell.
Emery will be a little annoyed that Guardiola started with that width this time, stretching Villa’s back five until space appeared.
Most notably, Doku’s assist for Rodri’s opener was the result of Zaniolo and Lucas Digne – stretched wider than they expected – getting a little muddled. Zaniolo neither tracked Doku nor closed down Foden.
Villa counter-attack like Emery’s Sevilla and Villarreal
This is hardly the first time Villa have looked to play a purely counter-attacking game under Emery, but it’s difficult to recall an occasion when they burst forward in such high numbers – and seemingly out of nowhere.
Four or five times Villa had a man advantage tearing into the Man City half, evoking those famous European nights at Sevilla and Villarreal when the defending team would spring into action and suddenly find themselves bearing down on goal.
It was intelligent and fine-tuned tactical planning that handed Villa those chances.
Emery recognised there are gaps on either side of Rodri and instructed his players to hit Zaniolo and Morgan Rogers as soon as they won back possession.
These two, occupying the columns of space either side of Rodri and in front of the centre-backs, then looked to carry the ball forward before releasing Villa’s rapid frontline.
And the speed in their attack seemed to scare the Man City centre-backs into retreat, opening up a too-large gap between Rodri and the defensive line, hence that cavalry of claret and blue shirts charging into space.