Rogers doubled Villa’s lead with a smart low finish, having given the City defence the slip in the first half before speeding clear and unselfishly feeding Jhon Duran to open the scoring.
This was the first-ever Premier League game in which Rogers has both scored and assisted. It was his fourth strike of the season, and his eighth in 28 league matches for Villa.
Those are not prolific numbers, but this was another in a line of matches where Rogers has given more than the stats suggested.
Clearly he has the trust of manager Unai Emery, who has started him in every league game this season, and both player and coach think he is capable of more.
“I try to thrive in big games and I want to show what I am about,” Rogers told TNT Sports after the City win.
“Sometimes I will do the hard bit and then struggle to find that bit of quality and have that composure. This season I have squandered a few chances that I would have liked to score.”
Emery added: “He played fantastic today, he is very important. Through him we are getting the performances back because he links strikers with midfielders and wingers. Today he was fantastic in the second half, connecting with strikers and scoring the goals.
“He has to add goals to his numbers, and today he was fantastic.”
Away from the cold goal and assist stats, Rogers was near irresistible against City. His goal came a few minutes after he hit the post following some fine individual work.
Soon after scoring, he set Ollie Watkins away with a magnificent deceptive through ball, but the striker could not make it 3-0 as he shot at the keeper.
Against City he had four shots, attempted five dribbles – completing three – and took six touches in the opposition box. In all of those metrics, he was top of the Villa list.
Admittedly all this was against a City defence shorn of confidence, but Rogers made established internationals look like an over-40s team – and not a good one.
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