Villa chants put City under pressure as Maresca shields senior stars

Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday, beaten 2-1 away at Aston Villa in an atmosphere laced with reminders of the club's ongoing financial rules case.

Villa Park rang out with chants of "you know what you are", including references to "cheating", following City's guilty verdict over breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations. The club is awaiting sanctions while an appeal against the finding continues.

City midfielder Elliot Anderson suggested before kick-off that the reception would not come as a surprise. "Yes, probably," he told TNT Sports when asked if his side would face a hostile Villa crowd. "Everywhere we go we get it."

The trip to the Midlands was only City's second away fixture since the independent commission's decision was announced, following a visit to Anfield where Liverpool supporters had also made their feelings known, according to BBC Sport.

Manager Enzo Maresca said the two away performances, at Liverpool and then Villa, proved his squad could tune out the hostility directed at them. "We played Liverpool away, Villa away, and the players showed that they don't care about noise," Maresca told BBC Sport. "They play the game, they are focused on the game and are doing the right things."

The defeat also intensified scrutiny of two individuals. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, already facing questions over his distribution and footwork this season, was heavily criticised for errors that contributed to the loss, Yahoo Sports reported.

Marc Guehi has likewise endured a difficult run, having been exposed for pace in the build-up to a goal and later conceding a penalty during a poor display against Ipswich Town, per Yahoo Sports.

Maresca responded by giving both defenders a break. According to Yahoo Sports, Donnarumma and Guehi joined Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol on a three-day holiday abroad to recharge ahead of a packed fixture schedule.

Independent Sport's account of the same trip named the quintet as Haaland, Anderson, Gvardiol, Donnarumma and captain Ruben Dias, rather than Guehi, with Maresca confirming the arrangement at his Tuesday press conference.

The timing reflects a congested run of fixtures. City face Brighton twice inside four days, starting with a Carabao Cup last-16 tie on Wednesday evening before a Premier League meeting with the same opponents on Saturday.

Maresca is expected to rotate heavily for the cup tie, which has allowed him to rest key personnel, and confirmed back-up goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli would start in Donnarumma's absence. "Yes [Rulli will play tomorrow]," Maresca said. "He's good. Before I arrived here, I had a conversation with him, he knows his role and that's important."

Despite the loss at Villa Park, City remain top of the Premier League table on goal difference ahead of Arsenal, having won their opening seven league matches before the defeat, Independent Sport reported.

Anderson, one of those sent away to recuperate, is due to return to his former club Nottingham Forest on 7 November, giving City's travelling support another away day to navigate before the turn of the month.