Nunes' late winner edges Manchester City past Aston Villa and up to third in Champions League race
BIG GOAL: Manchester City's Matheus Nunes scores the winner in injury time. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Manchester City 2 Aston Villa 1
MARCUS Rashford enjoyed a far happier visit to the Etihad than the one he missed out on earlier this season, but a 94th minute winning goal from Matheus Nunes saw Manchester City steal important ground in the chase for a top-five finish.
Rashford’s first half penalty looked to have earned Aston Villa a point in that absorbing battle for Champions League places.
But with time running out, Jeremy Doku skipped past Axel Disasi and crossed to the far post where full-back Nunes finished in clinical fashion to ruin Rashford’s Manchester return.
The on-loan Manchester United striker has enjoyed a new lease of life under Unai Emery’s at Villa, chasing honours in this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals and having helped his team on a memorable Champions League run.
And yesterday, it was his calmly-taken spot kick that cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s opener.
In mid-December, of course, it was a trip to the Etihad that marked the beginning of the end of Rashford’s United career as the striker was left out of the squad by new manager Ruben Amorim.
Four months later, he might have shot Villa into a sensational lead after just 19 seconds. Instead, the visitors found themselves a goal down after seven minutes.
The City goal was started by Ruben Dias’s cross-field pass, which was collected by Omar Marmoush who beat Matty Cash on a scintillating left wing run.
His pull-back from the by-line took a fortunate deflection of Ezri Konsa and Bernardo Silva, steaming in at speed, struck a 12-yard shot which Emiliano Martinez should have saved but, instead, turned into his own net.
It was tough on Villa who had made a breathtaking start, straight from kick-off, with Youri Tielemans working his way through midfield and setting up Rashford for a shot which hit the post and rebounded directly to a relieved Stefan Ortega in the home goal.
But having been denied in the opening minute, Rashford was still clearly motivated by his visit to the old enemy, and his next involvement led to the equaliser.
The forward showed an impressive turn of pace down the left, slipping the ball through for Jacob Ramsey who instantly met a challenge from Dias that sent him tumbling to the ground.
Referee Craig Pawson waved play-on initially but quickly brought proceedings to a halt after a message from his VAR and, after a trip to his monitor, awarded a penalty.
Rashford produced his customary stuttering run-up before rolling the spot kick into the bottom right-hand corner, with Ortega having dived the opposite way, for his second goal in 10 Premier League games for his new club.
Guardiola was still arguing with the fourth official, mimicking Dias’s challenge in exaggerated style, claiming he had pulled out of the tackle, by the time the game resumed. The City manager was cautioned for his theatrics.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the equaliser, Martinez did his own confidence some good with comfortable saves from half-chances that came the way of Marmoush, Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic in the minutes that followed.
But Villa were patient, often happy to play at walking pace to get around City’s press and hit them on the break. One such passage of play won the visitors a throw, deep in City territory, and Lucas Digne’s missile sparked a furious scramble in the box that the hosts just escaped.
Marmoush remained a threat for the home side, and might have done better than head over from six yards, following Nico O’Reilly’s left-wing cross, but Rashford was every bit as dangerous.
Digne’s long ball forward, just before the interval, almost played him clear for another sight of goal but Rashford was not quite able to take full control and Ortega beat him to it.
And in the closing seconds of the first half, Rashford’s corner picked out Amadou Onana whose header might have ended in the back of the City goal had it not struck O’Reilly in the face first.
City opened the second period with a series of dangerous set-pieces, Onana and Digne both producing some impressive last-ditch defending as the hosts looked poised to score.
And Cash had to head a De Bruyne cross off the line at the far post while Boubacar Kamara showed sharp reflexes to deflect a Dias shot around his post.
But the closest yet to a second City breakthrough came when De Bruyne played a superb ball upfield, which James McAtee controlled with an equally impressive touch before lobbing the ball over the keeper and just wide from 20 yards.
Rashford was not finished, however, chasing Morgan Rogers’ through ball and going around Ortega before rolling an ambitious shot into the side-netting from a too-wide angle.
Ortega 6; Nunes 6, Dias 5, Gvardiol 6, O’Reilly 8; Gundogan 6, Kovacic 7; Silva 7, De Bruyne 8 (Akanji 90), McAtee 6 (Doku 74, 7); Marmoush 7.
Martinez 5; Cash 5 (Disasi 61, 4), Konsa 6, Torres 6, Digne 6; Kamara 7, Onana 7 (Asensio 76, 5); Rogers 6 (Malen 86), Tielemans 7, Ramsey 7 (McGinn 61, 5); Rashford 8 (Watkins 76, 6).
C Pawson 7.
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