Manchester City returned to winning ways on Sunday, comprehensively beating Aston Villa 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium, and Rodri was one of many who impressed.
The 26-year-old struggled in City’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and was culpable for the winning goal scored by Harry Kane, but he was Man of the Match this time out.
No player in the City squad had more touches of the ball, more chances created or more successful dribbles than the Spanish international. Rodri got on the scoresheet for his troubles too, so he’ll be delighted with his contribution.
Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News gave Rodri a player rating of 8/10 and said he was ‘transformed’ after last Sunday’s dismal showing. Henry Winter of The Times called Rodri’s performance ‘class’ too. The challenge is now to have some consistency.
Against Villa, Rodri played for 90 minutes, had 112 touches, won five aerial duels, created four chances, had three shots with 66.66% hitting the target, scored one goal, had two successful dribbles, made one tackle, completed 90.9% of his 99 passes, blocked one shot and had one interception.
With City travel to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola will be delighted that Rodri has put in such a good performance.
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