Dean Smith was left disappointed with the nature of the goals conceded as his Aston Villa side fell to a 2-1 defeat against Manchester City.
John McGinn handed the hosts a dream start at Villa Park, converting after just 20 seconds – the club’s second-fastest goal in Premier League history.
But Phil Foden and Rodrigo turned the game on its head with first-half goals as City largely dominated proceedings at Villa Park.
John Stones saw red for the visitors just prior the interval before Matty Cash was also dismissed for a second bookable offence after the break.
Speaking to VillaTV post-match, Smith said: “Perfect start, we spoke about playing in behind their full-backs.
“I feel we have one of the best runners in the Premier League, in Ollie Watkins going in behind, we never used that space enough after that, which was disappointing.
“But a great goal, and I’m pleased to see John McGinn on the scoresheet, it’s been a while. It’ll do him the world of good.
“We were a little bit loose on the ball but you have to sometimes applaud the opposition and for 25 minutes it was tough dealing with their passing and movement.
“But I think they were restricted to some shots from outside the box and we got numbers back really well, blocked and gave corners away.
“But it’s the manner of the goals probably that disappoints me the most.
“We’d spoken about Ederson (Man City goalkeeper) and his 80-yard balls he can play and we didn’t deal with that well, concede the first.
“And then a second-phase corner, Rodri walks in and has a free header, he did it in the cup final against us (last year) as well, and we still haven’t learnt from that.
“If you’re going to concede against a top team like Man City, you want to concede some wonderfully-worked goals, not ones you can actually do something about.”
You can watch Dean’s full interview below…
