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A very late goal from Portuguese midfielder Matheus Nunes saw Manchester City take a major stride towards Champions League qualification with a 2-1 victory against Aston Villa.
The hosts came into the game unbeaten in their last six games, most recently beating Everton 2-0 in their last visit to Goodison Park. Villa tasted defeat in the Champions League quarter-final last week, where despite beating French champions PSG 3-2 at Villa Park went out on aggregate to the Parisian side. Despite this, Unai Emery’s side bounced back emphatically last Saturday night with a dominant 4-1 victory against fellow top five competitors Newcastle.
The Villains almost continued their electric goalscoring form after just 20 seconds of the game when Youri Tielemans went gliding through City’s midfield almost immediately from kick-off. The Belgian would slip Marcus Rashford in behind City’s backline, and the Manchester-born forward would twist and turn around Ruben Dias to make room for a shot, before striking a powerful effort off the post as a grateful City defence scrambled it away.
Yet it would be the home side who would open the scoring, as the ever dangerous and dynamic Omar Marmoush burst down the left hand side in front of the Villa faithful. After reaching the by-line, he flashed an expert ball across goal into Bernardo Silva, and the former Monaco midfielder sent a powerful strike at Emiliano Martinez, who could only smother the ball into the bottom corner of the goal to give Silva his first goal since Boxing Day.
It wouldn’t take long for Villa to respond though as the opening goal failed to waver their confidence and attacking fluidity. Former City youngster Morgan Rogers slipped Jacob Ramsey down the left hand side of the box; his delicate first touch seemed to beat Ruben Dias but the Portuguese centre-half cleared him out before he had a chance to cause any more problems. Referee Craig Pawson denied the claret and blue claims at first, before VAR called him to review his decision, of which he reversed. Marcus Rashford neatly tucked away the resulting penalty, much to the chagrin of Pep Guardiola who entered the book for his protests.
Despite such an explosive opening 20 minutes, City controlled possession and clear cut chances remained scarce. Lucas Digne entered the book on 35 minutes, but the ensuing free kick wouldn’t trouble Martinez in between the sticks. Morgan Rogers would join him there five minutes into the second half after hacking down a dangerous Nico O’Reilly run.
Shortly before Villa made the first changes of the game as John McGinn and Axel Disasi entered the fray for Jacob Ramsey and Matty Cash, City burst away on the counter attack after a disappointing Tielemans free kick, with James McAtee getting in behind Villa’s high line, but his audacious lob landed just wide of the right post, failing to call Martinez into action.
McAtee got another great chance in the 66th minute, after fellow academy graduate Nico O’Reilly flashed a low ball across goal from the left-hand side. The former Sheffield United loanee lunged towards the pass, but unluckily messed up his footing and the ball trickled away for a goal kick.
Both sides made plenty of changes from here as they pushed for the go-ahead goal, with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen coming on to shake up the Villa front line while Jeremy Doku replacing James McAtee. In the end, it was the latter who would be the difference maker in the game, as the 22-year-old went on one of his trademark bolts down the left in the 94th minute. He flashed an excellent, pacey ball across goal that went all the way through to midfielder-turned-right-back Matheus Nunes at the back post, who slammed the ball into the back of an empty net in the fourth of five added minutes to send the Citizens into the lead.
With a summer of monumental change set to take place at City this summer, where almost every player seems like they could go, Nunes’ time in Manchester may be cut short soon. This last-gasp winner could be so crucial in their season though, and with it, the former Wolves midfielder may be able to leave Manchester this summer with a sweeter taste in his mouth should he leave the club after what has been a fairly disappointing stint at the Etihad since joining in September 2023.
Both sides now turn their attention to Wembley this weekend, where City will face Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa will take on Crystal Palace, where if both sides win could see them meet once more this season at Wembley once again.
