Manchester City fell further behind in the Premier League standings when they succumbed to a 2-1 loss away to Aston Villa on Saturday.
The result means the defending champions have now fallen to seventh place in the standings having been overtaken by their opponents Villa who now sit a point above them in sixth.
However, despite the momentous win for Villa, Michael Owen expressed his disgust at how some fractions of their fans had treated ex-player Jack Grealish.
Grealish enjoyed a stellar start to his career at the Birmingham club, helping them earn promotion to the Premier League in 2019 before eventually departing for £100m in 2021. A fee that helped Aston Villa revitalise their squad and currently has them competing in the upper echelons of the Premier League.
Evidently, that wasn't front and centre of the Villa fan's minds as Grealish returned to their home ground in Sky Blue, with the home crowd heckling and booing him and Grealish responding by hoisting three fingers up to them to mark his three Premier League wins since leaving the club.
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Michael Owen disgusted by Grealish booing
Contemplating the newsworthiness of Manchester City's loss, former Liverpool and Manchester United legend Michael Owen was left shocked by how the fans who had previously revered Grealish had turned on him.
Owen took to X, where he posted a long-worded tirade taking aim at the Villa fans who abused Jack Grealish, claiming they should 'hang your heads in shame'.
The current capitulation of reigning champions Manchester City is enough of a story to fill back pages and jam radio stations up and down the country. But there was another story at Villa Park yesterday that genuinely left me feeling sick to the bottom of my stomach.
Of course, tarring a set of people with the same brush is not something I’m into. I’ve lived a life whereby myself and my teammates have been stereotyped and it’s pretty annoying. There will always be kind, honest, generous, respectful, caring people in all walks of life just as there will always be nasty, jealous, spiteful, bitter people too. Your job or where you’re from doesn’t necessarily make you fall into a certain category.
But to those Villa fans who booed Jack Grealish yesterday, you fall into the second category and should hang your heads in shame.
Here is a lad that came through YOUR academy. Supported The Villa all his life and no doubt still does. He single-handedly dragged YOUR team back into the Premier League when you were bang average at best. He kept you up and in hindsight, showed you ten times more loyalty than you are now showing him. He was hardly ever injured and delivered Man Of The Match performances on a regular basis. He cost you nothing, gave you incredible service and made YOUR club over £100m when he left.
In Jack’s case he is and always will be very proud of where he comes from and so it must be heart breaking for him to have to endure the mindless and pathetic booing that he had to listen to yesterday.
The criticism of Grealish could have very well hit a nerve for Owen, who despite starting his career in Liverpool and making 216 appearances for the club before moving on to Real Madrid and eventually Manchester United is largely disliked by the Anfield faithful.
Regardless of their love or lack thereof for Grealish, Aston Villa fans will be sleeping easy this Christmas having overtaken their former star and his Manchester City side by a point in the Premier League standings.
In Manchester, Christmas may not be as pleasant as Pep Guardiola's men try place their finger on where their current demise began and how to stop it.
