It was appropriate that Villa wore an all-black away strip on what turned out to be one of their darkest days of the season thus far.

And things look like they could get worse, before they start to get better, for Gerard Houllier and his struggling Villa side.

By the end of January everyone associated with the club may well need to lie down in a darkened room to calm the growing fears that relegation is a real possibility.

A quick glance at the fixture list for the first month of 2011 reveals several awkward games kicking off with an away trip to Chelsea on January 2.

And there needs to be an immediate improvement on what the team produced against Manchester City where Villa fans were left to mourn a poor performance as they were outclassed and outmuscled.

Not so long ago Villa had jostled with the likes of City and Tottenham for a place among the Premier League elite.

The goal of breaking into the lucrative Champions League places being the main aim for those just outside the so-called ‘big four’.

But the growth in the gap in the quality between Villa’s squad and those of their last two opponents demonstrates the size of the challenge facing Houllier and his management team.

The fact that former Villa charges Gareth Barry and James Milner couldn’t get into the City starting line-up to face their previous employers shows the sheer depth that City boss Roberto Mancini has at his disposal.

It is a little unfair to expect the Frenchman to perform the kind of miracles needed to turn Villa into a side capable of competing with City and Spurs in the short term.

Additionally it gives a glimpse of the rationale behind Martin O’Neill’s decision to quit the club and highlights the concerns he had over keeping Villa competitive.

Hard as it may be to accept, there has to be an initial lowering of expectations among fans. The notion that this squad is currently an under-performing top-six side is a myth.

It is also time for those senior players who have been sceptical of Houllier’s methods to put aside their differences for the good of Aston Villa Football Club.

Even if their futures ultimately lie elsewhere any club needs its experienced players to pull together, not divide the dressing room and undermine the management.

However, let none of this be used as an excuse for a very poor showing against City and some of the anger and frustration vented by the travelling support — principally aimed at Houllier — should also pointed in the direction of the players.

Houllier made three changes from the team which lost at Spurs as Barry Bannan came into the side in place of the injured Emile Heskey whose absence at the front of the attack was again missed.

Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov also returned along with Nigel Reo-Coker while Jonathan Hogg and Fabian Delph both dropped to the bench as Villa lined up with a 4-5-1 formation.

City were quickly out of the blocks and their early persistence was rewarded when Villa right-back Eric Lichaj clumsily brought down Italian striker Mario Balotelli who then converted the spot-kick.

The American youngster impressed in his first two Premier League appearances before this match but his confidence will have taken a hit after his inexperience was cruelly exposed in this outing.

Mancini’s side were rampant and scored a second in the 13th minute when Adam Johnson’s corner was met by the near-post run of Joleon Lescott who angled his header into the top-left corner.

Bannan attempted to nod the ball off the line at the back post and Houllier was adamant afterwards that the ball had not crossed the goal line.

Television replays proved inconclusive but it mattered little in the wider context of the game — if City were determined enough they could have racked up a cricket score anyway.

Villa seemed simply unable to get out of their half and the game was effectively over by the 28th minute after a brilliant piece of play by David Silva.

The Spanish winger dribbled past Stephen Warnock and exchanged a superb one-two with Yaya Toure before he struck a low left-footed shot from just inside the penalty area.

Friedel was able to get a hand on to save the shot but he could only parry the ball into the path of Balotelli who tapped into an empty net.

Villa had a rare sight of goal just before the break and it was little surprise that it was Marc Albrighton who provided it.

Whereas others have been fazed by the problems affecting the club Albrighton has helped battle them head on and has been a shining light for Villa in recent weeks.

He showed his tricky as he jinked past Micah Richards and Vincent Company before hitting a powerful low shot which was brought a fine save out of England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Hart spilled the ball inside the box but Nigel Reo-Coker was unable to get a touch to divert it past the keeper and the ball was cleared to safety.

City’s dominance continued after the half-time interval and they notched their fourth with a second penalty after Albrighton mistimed a tackle on Johnson in the box in the 55th minute.

Balotelli again had the better of Friedel and deceived the American goalkeeper with a similar penalty to the first to complete his hat-trick.

Albrighton was clearly cut up about giving away the spot-kick and Houllier showed he will treat the prodigiously talented winger with kid gloves as he withdrew him from the fray to protect him from possible mental, as well as physical, scars that could be suffered from the match.

With the pressure off and City happy to coast the final 15 minutes Villa actually started to string a couple of nice passing moves together and Delph saw a low shot saved by Hart.

But in truth that was as close as Villa got on a dark and dank afternoon in Manchester they will be in a hurry to forget.