Bailey’s goal for Villa questions City’s Guardiola

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

Reggae Boy Leon Bailey scored a 74th-winner for Aston Villa that placed questions on Manchester City's manager Pep Guardiola and allowed Villa to overtake City in the English Premier League's (EPL) points standing.

Guardiola said this week that he was confident that City would win an unprecedented fourth EPL title in a row, with Manchester United's manager Erik ten Hag spending most of the season in apparent crisis.

How quickly fortunes can change in football. Three points now separate the rivals after United beat Chelsea 2-1 and the defending champions yesterday to extend their winless run in the league to four games.

"We are on a journey. We keep calm... We are going in the right direction," Ten Hag said after he put a difficult few days behind him with a morale-boosting win.

The Dutch coach had gone into the game on the back of a 10th defeat of the season at Newcastle over the weekend and reports of player unrest in the locker room.

"(We) Don't get distracted from criticism around us, but we are very critical of ourselves," he said. "We know we are not satisfied and happy. We always want to do things better."

Two goals from Scott McTominay secured the win and moved United to sixth - three points off fourth-place City.

Ten Hag will likely face much greater tests than Chelsea, who are still struggling from the hangover of a chaotic first season under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

United's manager would still welcome the change of mood after such a troubled campaign, saying, "We wanted to send this message to the crowd."

Now, Guardiola is facing tough questions as he was left to assess a winless run.

City's previous three games in the league ended in draws, allowing leaders Arsenal to extend a six-point lead over them in the standings after a 4-3 win against Luton on Tuesday.

"In these years, we have found a way to win games, but we struggled a bit, and we have to find a way," Guardiola said. "It is my job to find a solution. The dynamics change by winning games."

Villa's win moves them to third, two points ahead of last season's treble winners. Second-place Liverpool trail Arsenal by two points after a 2-0 victory at Sheffield United.

LIVERPOOL WINS

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool spoiled Chris Wilder's homecoming party at Sheffield United.

Wilder returned to the relegation-threatened club on Tuesday, having taken the team up to English football's top division in 2019 and to a ninth-place finish in 2019-20.

But he has a fight on his hands to avoid the drop. Goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai consigned last-place Sheffield United to a 12th defeat of the season that left them four points from safety.

COOPER PRESSURE

Nottingham Forest may be six points above the drop zone, but, a 5-0 rout by Fulham heaped pressure on manager Steve Cooper.

Forest have lost five of their last six games in the league and only won one in their last 11.

BOURNEMOUTH RUN

Andoni Iraola is getting things right at Bournemouth. Having had to wait until October for a first win in the league, his team beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to make it three wins out of four.

Bournemouth are now up to 15th in the standings and nine points above the relegation zone.

Eighth-place Brighton beat Brentford 2-1 to be five points off the top four.