Unai Emery was left disappointed after Aston Villa’s three-game winning run away from home in the Premier League came to an end.
Manchester City inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Villa at the Etihad Stadium, with Ollie Watkins’ goal proving to be only a consolation.
Emery felt the match got away from his side in the first half due to mistakes that were made.
He said: “We were competing very well away from home and being consistent, defensively as well, but today the match was very different.
“They deserved to win, of course, but we made some mistakes that weren’t normal. We started well at the beginning with a good chance for Leon Bailey but then we conceded one goal from a corner.
“We tried to keep our gameplan but the second goal was a mistake in communication between Emiliano and Calum Chambers and they scored a second goal.
“That’s the moment to finish the first half and change something, but the third goal is another mistake to concede a penalty.
“In the second half we tried to keep our gameplan, forgetting the result and trying to improve and learn. We scored one goal and didn’t concede again.
“The result is important in every match but we have to use this match to learn, to analyse and show what to do in the next match against Arsenal at home.”
Despite the loss, Villa remain within striking distance of the top ten in 11th place.
Emery says his side must learn the lessons from Sunday’s game as they look to move forward against Arsenal next weekend.
He said: “We had two objectives: one was to try and escape from the bottom, which we did, but we have to continue on respecting the teams below us because they are trying to get us; the other is trying to get into the top ten.
“The next step is much harder. We are now 11th but we have to be consistent in our mind when we are winning and when we are losing, trying to analyse where to improve and being demanding.
“We have to use everything that happened today to help us in the next match.”
