Jack Grealish held up three fingers to goading Aston Villa supporters as the Manchester City winger had an afternoon to forget on his return to Villa Park.

Starting against his boyhood club away from home for the first time since his £100m move to the Etihad, Grealish was on the end of a 2-1 defeat as City’s miserable run of form continued.

The England international helped Villa to promotion back to the Premier League in 2019 but was booed on every touch as he saw plenty of the ball during the first half.

Grealish was tightly marked by former team-mate Matty Cash, who was eventually booked for his third foul on the 29-year-old.

Grealish was also involved in a scuffle with Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the stroke of half-time and later lashed out in frustration at home captain John McGinn to earn himself a yellow card.

At full-time, as City suffered their ninth defeat in 12 matches in all competitions, Grealish held up three fingers to the Villa supporters as he made his way down the tunnel.

The former Villa captain may have been referring to the three Premier League titles he has won at City since joining the club in a British transfer record deal in 2021, or City’s treble campaign in 2023.

Grealish, who is yet to score for City this season and whose last goal for City came a year ago, was not the only player in Pep Guardiola’s side to struggle at Villa Park as their poor run of form continued.

Top scorer Erling Haaland admitted his current form is not good enough as he backed Guardiola to find a solution to Man City’s dismal run.

Halaand has scored just one goal in City’s last six games but the striker, who averaged a goal a game for City during his first two seasons at the club, said Guardiola is not the problem.

“We have to continue working,” Haaland told TNT Sports after the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

“The first thing I am looking at is myself, I have not been doing things good enough, have not been scoring my chances and everything. I have to be better. There is a lot on me and I’ve not been good enough.

“We know how important confidence is. You can see it. It affects every human being [But] we have to continue. We have to stay positive even though it is difficult. We have to keep working hard.”

Halaand pointed to Guardiola’s record and said the Spaniard will find a way to turn City’s results around despite going through his worst run of results as a manager.

“He’s won the Premier League six times in seven years. We can never forget that,” Haaland said.

“He will find the solutions. He’s been doing that every year, apart from one. We still believe in him and we have to work harder than ever right now.”