England international Jack Grealish made an appearance against boyhood club Aston Villa for the first time since he sealed a British record transfer to Premier League holders Manchester City. Grealish was left on the Manchester City bench on his return to Aston Villa as he gradually works his way back to full fitness after a few weeks out through injury.
Grealish became the most expensive footballer in the history of British football in the summer when Manchester City paid the £100m release clause in his then Aston Villa contract. He had strongly been linked with a move to Manchester United before the Citizens paid a huge transfer fee to secure his transfer. The Euro 2020 finalist came on for Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus for final three minutes of the Villa game to make his tenth league appearance of the season as he helped his new team hold on to a 2-1 away win over the home team.
Since his transfer from Aston Villa to Manchester City this summer, Grealish has scored once and provided two assists in ten league outings. In all competitions, the Englishman has two goals and two assists in 16 matches.
Manchester City kept pace with pacesetters Chelsea at the top of the Premier League standings with the slender victory over Villa who gave a good account of themselves against the defending champions thanks in part to the input from new manager Steven Gerrard.
The Premier League champions raced into a two-goal lead at the end of the first 45 goals with the Portuguese duo of Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias getting on the scoresheet. England international Ollie Watkins scored his second goal in three league games under Gerrard to pull one back for the home team at the start of the second 45 minutes. Manchester City thereafter held on to maintain their one-point deficit to leaders Chelsea in second place on the log.