Man City vs Aston Villa LIVE: Matheus Nunes nets late winner as hosts move into top four
Man City 2-1 Aston Villa: Pep Guardiola’s men close in on a Champions League place with big win over rivals Villa
Manchester City moved up to third in the Premier League and took a huge step to securing Champions League football after beating Aston Villa 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Unai Emery’s Villa started proceedings in rapid fashion with Marcus Rashford, starting ahead of Marco Asensio and Ollie Watkins, striking the post just 17 seconds into the match. The visitors had another strong chance batted away and City managed to strike first.
Omar Marmoush drove into the box from the left wing and pulled a pass back to Bernardo Silva who rocketed in the opener to get the Etihad celebrating. Their joy didn’t last long as Jacob Ramsey was brought down in the City box resulting in a penalty that Rashford converted to bring the game level at half-time.
City turned up the tempo in the second hlaf but they needed stoppage time to force a winner as Matheus Nunes arrived at the back post to turn Jeremy Doku’s cross into the back of the net and secure all three points.
Follow all the latest build-up, team news and updates from the Etihad below:
Man City 1-1 Aston Villa
30 mins: The Manchester City fans are jeering away whenever Emi Martinez has the ball.
He’s taking his time to restart play at any opportunity and is seemingly inviting City’s players to move further up the pitch to challenge for the ball.
Man City 1-1 Aston Villa
27 mins: Mateo Kovacic is given the ball from Bernardo Silva and has a lot of bodies ahead of him.
He decides to shoot from range and gets his effort through but Martinez drops to the right and smothers the ball.
The Villa goalkeeper has made a few good stops after his error for City’s goal.
Man City 1-1 Aston Villa
24 mins: A bit of controlled possession from Man City.
Knocking the ball around in midfield and looking for the cutting pass over the top.
Mixed results for the hosts so far.
Man City 1-1 Aston Villa
21 mins: It’s game on now. Jacob Ramsey was smart in winning the spot kick and it has truly annoyed the Manchester City squad, fans and support staff.
The hosts try to play in Marmoush with chip over the top but Martinez manages to close him down.
GOAL! Man City 1-1 Aston Villa (Marcus Rashford, 18')
Pep Guardiola, Ruben Dias and a handful of Manchester City players are incandescent over the decision to award a penalty and the City boss earns himself a yellow card.
Marcus Rashford steps up to the spot and rolls the ball into the bottom right corner with Stefan Ortega diving in the opposite direction.
All square.
Man City 1-0 Aston Villa
15 mins: A potential penalty for Aston Villa.
Jacob Ramsey goes on a run into the box and is clipped by Ruben Dias who, to be fair to him, is trying to avoid the contact.
Regardless the VAR calls the referee over to the monitor, he reviews the incident then points to the spot!
Penalty to Aston Villa!
Man City 1-0 Aston Villa
13 mins: Matheus Nunes looks to sneak in behind out wide on the right wing.
A long ball comes over to him but he can’t keep it in play despite an outstretched attempt to control the ball.
The goal seems to have settled the hosts down. They’re pressing high up the pitch and making it tough for Villa to play out from the back.
'One of Bernardo Silva's finest goals'
“One of Bernardo Silva's finest City goals came against Villa. Perhaps one of the most important has done now.
“Emi Martinez arguably should have saved his shot, instead of pushing it over the line.
“All that after Villa, who scored after 33 seconds against Newcastle, hit the post after 18.
“They like a fast start and yet find themselves 1-0 down.”
Man City 1-0 Aston Villa
10 mins: City are up to third in the Premier League as things stand and it seems as though they’ll secure their spot in Europe’s top flight soon enough.
Villa have a poor record here and going behind so early isn’t a good sign for them.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Aston Villa (Bernardo Silva, 7')
City try to assert some control on the game. Omar Marmoush brings down a cross field pass and drives into the box.
He pokes the ball into the middle where a deflection touches the ball into the path of Bernardo Silva.
The City midfielder rattles a shot at goal, Emi Martinez dives low and gets a strong hand to the ball but it beats the Argentine and rolls into the back of the net.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments