Mariska: We did not deserve to lose, we should have been decisive

Enzo Maresca, Manchester City manager, stated that his team did not deserve to lose against Aston Villa 2-1 in the eighth round of the Premier League, pointing out that the players created many chances but lacked effectiveness in front of goal.

Mariska stated in an interview with "TNT Sports": "The performance was good overall, especially in terms of the number of chances we created. In the second half, we only conceded one chance from a counter-attack that resulted in a goal; sometimes you have to defend better or be luckier in dealing with these transitions, but that is football, and we will learn from it and move forward."

Regarding the possibility of avoiding Aston Villa's two goals, he explained: "Of course, the two goals could have been avoided. Sometimes you need a bit of luck, as we only conceded those two chances, while we created many opportunities. We played most of the match inside the opponent's penalty area, but we needed to be more decisive in front of goal and avoid the mistakes that led to the two goals."

Regarding Manchester City's record at Villa Park, Mariska said: "We will try again next season. I can only analyse today's match, and I don't think we deserved to lose, but we lost. You can always learn something, and there are definitely things we could have done better today."

Speaking about the upcoming clash against Brighton, Manchester City manager concluded his remarks by saying: "We will see, it will be a different match, and Brighton are doing a great job. Both matches will be difficult, but we need to recover and prepare for the next encounter."