Pep Guardiola's final Manchester City game ends in a defeat
What's the story
Manchester City said goodbye to their legendary manager Pep Guardiola with a 1-2 loss against Aston Villa in Matchweek 38 of the Premier League 2025-26 season. The match marked the end of Guardiola's decade-long tenure at the club. Despite the defeat, the atmosphere at Etihad Stadium was far from somber as fans celebrated their beloved manager's contributions. The game also witnessed emotional farewells for club captain Bernardo Silva and John Stones.
Match highlights
How did the match pan out?
The match started with Antoine Semenyo scoring from a scrappy set-play in the 23rd minute. However, Aston Villa turned the game around in the second half with two goals from Ollie Watkins within 14 minutes. The second of his goals was particularly impressive, taking his Premier League tally to 16 for the season. Notably, Guardiola left out goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and star striker Erling Haaland out of the matchday squad and played with an expiremental formation.
Performance analysis
Key stats from the match
Manchester City had 51.6% ball possession with Villa managing 47.4%. Guardiola's side had an xG of 1.25 with Unai Emery's Villa clocking 1.67. From 16 attempts, City had three shots on target. Villa had 5 shots on target from 12 attempts. City created one big chance which was inferior to Villa's three. City had 42 touches in the opposition box. Villa managed 18 such touches.
Information
A look at how City and Villa fared this season
From 38 games, City finished with 78 points. Guardiola's side suffered its sixth defeat of the campaign. Meanwhile, Villa, who recently won the UEFA Europa League, finished 4th with 65 points. Villa claimed their 19th win of the season.
Duo
Key Premier League numbers for Watkins and Semenyo
With his brace against City, Watkins raced to 91 Premier League goals from 221 appearances (A37). In the 2025-26 season, Watkins ended with an impressive 16 goals (A3) from 37 appearances. On the other hand, Semenyo ended his campaign with 17 goals and 4 assists from 37 games. Semenyo, who joined City in January from Bournemouth, raced to 37 Premier League goals in total from 118 matches (A11).
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Guardiola's Man City stats
Guardiola managed City in 593 games across all competitions. He won 416 games, drew 87 and lost 90. His win percentage was 70.2.
Silverware
A look at Guardiola's Man City trophy haul
Guardiola won six Premier League honors. These wins came in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24. Guardiola won 3 FA Cup honors in 2018-19, 2022-23 and 2025-26. He was a runner-up in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He won five Carabao Cups and 3 FA Community Shields. He won one UEFA Champions League honor in 2022-23. He was a runner-up in 2020-21. He won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2023.
Twitter Post
Thank you!
Ten years that will live forever.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 24, 2026
Thank you for everything, Pep 🩵 pic.twitter.com/eEFr8RPirx