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 0-0 Aston Villa
3 mins: Villa have been playing well of late and come into the match on the back of a big win over Newcastle to help their prospects of a top four finish.
Jacob Ramsey goes on a run down the right side and feeds the ball to Matty Cash.
He sends a low cross into the box and City have to clear their lines again.
Kick off! Man City 0-0 Aston Villa
Crazy start! Aston Villa get the match underway and send the ball long.
A Man City clearance is knocked into the midfield where Villa win the ball and touch it up to Youri Tielemans.
He feeds it to Marcus Rashford who weaves around Ruben Dias then laces a shot past Stefan Ortega and strikes the far post!
Man City vs Aston Villa
Here come the teams.
The players make their way out onto the pitch at the Etihad Stadium. The result here could have big implications on the race to secure Champions League spots.
Villa are also in the FA Cup at the weekend but they need to make sure they push on in the Premier League to get themselves into the top four. A win tonight propels them up to fourth.
City are currently fifth and will drop out of the Champions League spots if they lose.
Kick off is up next...
Watkins on the bench
Ollie Watkins scored his 74th Premier League goal for Aston Villa on Saturday, equalling the club record set by Gabby Agbonlahor.
Watkins is the first Villa player to score 15 goals or more in three consecutive Premier League seasons.
He starts on the bench tonight.
Man City vs Aston Villa
Manchester City have won their last 14 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, scoring at least twice in each of the most recent 13. Their last home defeat in this fixture came on 28 April 2007.
City have trailed in just two of those 14 matches, going 1-0 down in May 2010 and 2-0 down in May 2022 before winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.
However, Aston Villa won this season's reverse fixture in December and are looking to complete their first league double over City since 1962-63.
One more match to come between this pair?
This may not be the final match between these two sides this season, remember.
This weekend, both will travel to the capital to contest their respective FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
Villa face Crystal Palace on Saturday 26 April, while City take on Nottingham Forest the next day.
Could these two sides be set for a Wembley showpiece in May too then?
Pep Guardiola laments letting ‘exceptional’ Morgan Rogers leave Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has admitted Manchester City had an “exceptional player” in their ranks with Morgan Rogers as they prepare to face him in a six-pointer to qualify for the Champions League.
Rogers struck for Aston Villa when they beat his former club in December but was never given a first-team appearance by Guardiola as he was loaned out to Lincoln, Bournemouth and Blackpool before being sold to Middlesbrough.
But the winger has kicked on at Villa, becoming a full England international and scoring in the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Pep Guardiola laments letting ‘exceptional’ Morgan Rogers leave Manchester City
Head-to-head
These two sides have met a total of 165 times in the past, with City winning 75, Villa winning 51 and 40 ending as draws.
Earlier this season, Villa ran out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Villa Park.
Match facts
City are on a run of nine successive home league victories in the month of April, scoring 35 goals and conceding eight.
Villa have won five consecutive Premier League fixtures for the first time since April 2023. They have never won six in a row in the competition.
Pep Guardiola fears targets will go elsewhere if Man City miss Champions League
Pep Guardiola fears Manchester City could miss out on summer transfer targets if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
After winning the last four Premier League titles during an unprecedented spell of domestic dominance, the goal this term is to earn a place back at European football’s top table.
City sit fifth having recovered from an awful end to 2024, but they have work to do in the fight for a Champions League spot that may have a bearing on who they can attract this summer.
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