Man City 4 Aston Villa 1
Pep Guardiola labelled Liverpool as ‘favourites’ for the title after their draw with Arsenal at the weekend. The Spaniard was already starting the mind games before they welcomed Aston Villa to The Etihad for what was a ‘must win’ game.
Both managers opted to make multiple changes to their sides from the weekends. For the hosts, most notably, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were starting on the bench. Time for the big striker to reflect on Roy Keane’s comments about him being a League Two striker.
Grealish cut inside from the left wing to play a neat pass through the defence for Alvarez to run onto. The Argentine forward could only find the side netting however from a tight angle. Early warning for Unai Emery’s side if they needed one at all.
Foden then run at the Villa backline before spreading it out wide to Doku. He spotted the run of Rodri in the box, who drilled his shot past Olsen, who was deputising for Martinez in the visitors’ goal. The keeper had fallen ill in the warm-up before the game.
Credit: @ManCity
Alvarez then tried to dance through the Villa defence on the edge of the box and was dispossessed. The visitors broke and Duran played a neat one-two before ghosting into the penalty area to slot past Ortega to draw Aston Villa level against the run of play.
It was the first attack of the game for Emery’s side and they had punished Man City. As with a lot of teams in the league, when their first choice keeper is injured, there is a big drop off to the next in line. They could do with Ederson back for their attempt at another treble.
As City continued to attack, Grealish was looking like their main threat. Doku lofted a cross from the byline to the back post and the Alice band cladded winger struck a volley into the ground that had the keeper scrambling, but it narrowly missed the far post.
Lewis then put Alvarez through on goal, with only the keeper to beat. He looked to pass it into the far corner but Olsen made a smart save with his feet to deny Man City. Pep Guardiola’s side were keen to restore their lead before the interval.
Luiz fouled Foden just outside the box. The City playmaker stepped up to take it and curled it through a gap in the Aston Villa wall and straight into the bottom corner of the goal. A gentle reminder for Gareth Southgate that he has other options rather than Kalvin Phillips.
The hosts almost doubled their lead in added time when Alvarez met a cross with a header but Olsen was able to tip it over the crossbar. Man City were starting to look like their old selves in this game after firing blanks against Arsenal on the weekend.
Credit: @premierleague
Foden was starting to pull the strings in midfield and threaded it through to Bernardo Silva, but his shot was well blocked by the Aston Villa keeper. The visitors broke downfield and Luiz almost equalised, but for a good save from Ortega, tipping it over the bar.
It was to prove an important stop as Rodri squared the ball to Foden who slotted his effort into the bottom corner, clipping the inside of the post on its way through. At this point you felt this game had been put beyond Aston Villa.
City then felt they should have had a free kick for a foul by Lenglet on Foden. The midfielder leapt to his feet, received the ball back and thundered a shot from outside the box into the top corner. As the great Alan Hansen once said ‘you just don’t save those’.
Gomez almost put the icing on the cake in the closing stages but his shot clipped the outside of the post. By this stage there was a plethora of empty seats in the stadium. It is a strange mentality, fans leaving early, given the exorbitant price of tickets nowadays.
It was a big win for Pep Guardiola’s side and there was no doubting who the man of the match was. Phil Foden put in a talismanic display and if he is not in Southgate’s starting line-up for the Euros, it should be enough rationale to sack the manager on the spot.
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