Manchester City's Victory Over Villarreal Paid High With Gonzalez's Injury

Nico Gonzalez received a knee injury in Manchester City's win over Villarreal (Instagram/@nico14).

JAKARTA - Erling Haaland scored again, but Pep Guardiola was dizzy again due to a midfielder injury. In the match against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica, Wednesday, October 22, 2025, early morning WIB, Nico Gonzalez limped off at the start of the second half.

The 2-0 away win in the Champions League proved bitter for Guardiola. Prolific striker Haaland has scored 24th in 14 games for his club and country this season.

The Norwegian has now scored 53 goals in 51 Champions League career games and has scored in nine consecutive games for Manchester City in all competitions. Haaland has said he is in his best form.

However, Guardiola also had to pay a heavy victory after losing defensive midfielder Nico Gonzalez due to a knee injury. In fact, the Spaniard has been plotted to replace Rodri who was again sidelined due to a hamstring injury after being absent for most of last season due to an ACL injury.

Mateo Kovacic came on to replace Gonzalez in the 56th minute, having just recovered from an achilles injury that left the Croatian midfielder out for the past five months.

Bernardo Silva also scored for Manchester City, whose unbeaten record in all competitions has reached nine.

"I'm glad Erling scored again and happy Bernardo also scored, with his header. I remember, it was like (Lionel) Messi, like a hammer."

"They were like hammers in the neck. They were small, but really great in head contact. I'm happy with this win. They had some good chances and Villarreal was the top team."

"The atmosphere is good and the first half is very good. We scored in the right time and we created a good threat," said Guardiola.

Guardiola's side also ended a streak of five away games without a win in the Champions League. Manchester City, who are unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions, have now secured seven points from their three matches in the group stage.

This is a favorable position for Manchester City, which struggled last season and failed to qualify for the round of 16.

"The difference with last season was that we had players (injured) in the hospital. We had 15 or 16 players, they started to get tired after 70 minutes and had to play every three games," said Guardiola.

Furthermore, The Citizens will travel to Aston Villa headquarters on Sunday, October 26, 2025, where Haaland will try to score for their seventh consecutive Premier League game.