At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 2-1 thanks to a goal by Matheus Nunes in the 94th minute, significantly bolstering their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. As City's sustained pressure paid off, Nunes side-footed the ball home at the back post for his first goal in the Premier League for City. He was found by Jeremy Doku deep into stoppage time. Although Marcus Rashford equalized from the spot after Ruben Dias fouled Jacob Ramsey, Bernardo Silva had earlier given City the lead when he made an Emiliano Martinez mistake in the seventh minute. Omar Marmoush scored in the second half, but Villa's defense was unable to hold on through five minutes of extra time as City increased the pressure. The result takes City up to third in the Premier League table, one point clear of fourth-placed Nottingham Forest and two ahead of Newcastle United in fifth.
Villa remains in seventh place, two points behind the top five. After skipping past Dias, Rashford nearly gave Villa a dream start by hitting the woodwork with a low shot just 18 seconds in. But that sparked City into action and the hosts swiftly took the lead. Martinez could only parry Silva's clean shot into his own net after Marmoush's center deflected into Silva's path. However, Villa won a penalty kick in the 18th minute to quickly bring City back to earth. Craig Pawson awarded the spot kick after a VAR check after Dias was found to have clipped Ramsey inside the box. Rashford converted his spot kick with calm precision into the bottom-right corner. James McAtee nearly put City ahead with a stunning lob from 25 yards out on the hour mark, then Marmoush saw a goal ruled out for offside as City continued to press.
However, Villa was unable to maintain its position until the final whistle, when Nunes tapped in Doku's outside of the boot cross to elicit wild celebrations from the home crowd. City were far from convincing in their 2-0 win over Everton at the weekend, relying on late goals from Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic to secure the points at Goodison Park.
Heading into Tuesday’s match, City had a dominant record at home to Villa, winning the last 14 Premier League meetings at the Etihad, with their most recent such loss coming in 2007.
However, Guardiola's team's fortress at the Etihad has diminished somewhat. This season, City has conceded 22 league goals at home, their highest total since 2003-2004. Their defensive frailties were obvious again in the first half as Villa’s dynamic forwards – namely Rashford and Morgan Rogers – constantly threatened to get in behind.
Dias and Josko Gvardiol both had their share of nerve-wracking moments, but Villa eventually ran out of steam in the second half. Nunes perfectly timed his first goal in the Premier League for City – and his first goal overall since April 2023 – as the visitors were forced to settle for a draw late on. City will now focus on their FA Cup semi-final matchup with Nottingham Forest this weekend after taking a significant step toward qualifying for the Champions League. Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are currently in good form, will be their next opponents in the league. The resurgence of Rashford continues, but Villa fails. Villa came to the Etihad with a lot of confidence after coming back from their heartbreaking Champions League elimination with a bold 4-1 victory over Newcastle. Unai Emery's team had won the reverse match in December, and the Spaniard would have thought his team had a chance after winning two of their last three games against City. That belief was only bolstered by Rashford's initial shot off the post, and Villa did well to draw level after Martinez misjudged Silva's shot. After Rashford converted a penalty, he now has five Premier League goals against Guardiola's City. Only Jamie Vardy and Mohamed Salah have more. The England international saw other chances go begging, the first of which was a well-timed run in beyond Dias in the first half, though his shot from a tight angle was saved by Stefan Ortega.
Later, he sprinted past Gvardiol to meet a lovely pass from Youri Tielemans, but after rounding the City goalkeeper, he could only fire into the side netting. As a result of Nunes' late strike, Villa's European ambitions suffered a significant blow. After facing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final, Emery's team will attempt to regroup before facing Fulham in their next league match.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0