Manchester City 0 Aston Villa 2: Pearce closer to exit as Carew puts City to sword

Mid-table finishes beckon for both these teams but while Aston Villa can look forward to August with optimism a turbulent summer surely lies ahead for troubled Manchester City.

By the start of next season, City may well have new owners and perhaps a different manager. The playing staff will surely also be radically overhauled, regardless of who is in charge, as another underachieving campaign drifts to an insipid end.

Yesterday John Carew's header and Shaun Maloney's first goal in English football, a free-kick, earned Villa a third successive away victory. Even with the gift of a needless penalty City were still unable to score at home in the League for the first time since New Year's Day. Joey Barton, otherwise City's most impressive player, was the culprit, blasting his spot-kick into the stand.

To make matters worse for the disgruntled City fans, all this came on a day when their rivals from across Manchester had recovered from two goals behind to win at Everton. No wonder they booed Stuart Pearce and his players off at the end.

"The team feel under pressure at home at the moment," said the City manager. "We haven't scored enough goals and you can feel the tension through the supporters.

"If the chairman feels there is a better man for the job than me then I'm right behind him but at the moment he thinks I'm the best man to take the club forward," added Pearce, on a day when Bolton's Sam Allardyce was linked with a move to City.

A minute's applause took place before kick-off in honour of Alan Ball, though his time as manager at City in the mid-1990s was not a happy one. He presided over City's relegation from the Premiership and left three games into the next season.

City actually made a decent start, with Barton, Darius Vassell and Richard Dunne all threatening. But as has so often been the case, they were unable to translate territorial dominance into goals. Only Watford have scored fewer times in the League.

Villa took the lead after 24 minutes. Ashley Young provided a left-wing cross that Carew converted, heading beyond Andreas Isaksson.

Thomas Sorensen conceded a penalty by colliding with and knocking over Vassell as he came to collect a corner. Barton, however, failed to vindicate his decision to take the ball off City's regular penalty-taker, the hapless Georgios Samaras.

In the second half Samaras came close to his first goal since early January with a header, and then Emile Mpenza was put clean through goal but made a mess of his finish.

With 15 minutes to go the second goal arrived - not that City looked likely to equalise. Maloney was brought down by Sylvain Distin and the substitute curled home a free-kick.

"It's the first time we've scored the first goal in a while and that helps," said Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager. "We've been playing well for a while now and that second goal going in gave us a real fillip." Thousands of City fans promptly made for the exits and another 40,000-plus crowd had shrunk by the time the final whistle was blown.