Five Things Learned: Manchester City 2-1 Aston Villa (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City beat Aston Villa in a direct battle for a UEFA Champions League spot next season at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a late Matheus Nunes goal.

City have now won three Premier League matches in a row for the first time since October as Pep Guardiola’s men maintained the home advantage they have against the Villains – unbeaten against the Birmingham club at home in over 10 years.

The match began with an early chance for Aston Villa’s Marcus Rashford, who hit the woodwork with only 20 seconds of play. However, the hosts were quick to respond as Bernardo Silva opened the scoring just seven minutes later.

Following a bad pass from Matheus Nunes, the visitors got on the counter and Rúben Dias – according to referee Craig Pawson and VAR John Brooks – made a foul on Jacob Ramsey. Rashford sent Stefan Ortega Moreno the wrong way and converted from the spot to make things even in the first-half.

In the second half, City controlled the action: just a few shots given away and no goals conceded. Offensively, James McAtee had two golden opportunities of marking his name on the scoresheet, but sent one wide and missed the other. Omar Marmoush scored, but saw the linesman lift the flag as he was offside.

Still, things were destined for the Blues. It was not quite a 93:20 repeat, but close enough, literally. 93:21; Jeremy Doku glided past Axel Disasi and played the perfect ball with the outside of his foot for Matheus Nunes to score his first Premier League goal in sky blue.

With this outcome, Manchester City are currently in the third position, having played one extra match than Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Chelsea. At this point, the UEFA Champions League spot depends only on the team itself.

Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s win against Aston Villa on Tuesday night!

More movement off the ball

In a team without Erling Haaland, the boys in blue have more freedom to step on the penalty area, especially the midfielders coming from behind. It was like that when Bernardo Silva scored the opening goal of the night after a brilliant piece of play from Omar Marmoush.

The Egyptian on the left, followed by James McAtee on the right, can receive the ball wide or narrow, giving a wide variety of opportunities for the team to work, whether it is with the fullbacks overlapping or the centre mids underlapping.

It is clear that the ‘false wingers’ have something to add in the game. It makes the group more unpredictable, even though the chances are not so clear cut.

Josko Gvardiol: The centre-back

Signed from RB Leipzig for £77.6 million in 2023, the Croatian was initially thought to be a centre-back who could play as a left-back, having been the best centre-half at the 2022 World Cup. Turns out he became a full-back who could join the attack and score goals.

After the rise of Nico O’Reilly – who is also not a wing-back – and the amount of injuries in the squad, Gvardiol started to play as a real centre-back, and he is nailing it. The number 24 had an amazing match against Everton, as was wonderful against Aston Villa too.

Quick to run backwards and stop the counters, strong to outmuscle strikers, technical to start the build up play, smart to win the aerial duels – he has it all. Maybe Josko Gvardiol can be defined not by a single position, but as a true footballer – or the definite centre-back.

‘Not clever enough’ to be a midfielder; dedicated enough to be a hero

Yes, Matheus Nunes misplaced the pass which led to Aston Villa’s penalty. Yes, he makes some silly mistakes – such as passing to nobody – and is sometimes poorly positioned: he is not a full-back after all! But he has been improving recently; and can still become much better.

He always gives his 100 per cent on the football pitch, and this might be the reason why he starts ahead of a natural full-back in Rico Lewis. Or maybe it is because he is faster or stronger than the Academy graduate.

What really matters is the Portuguese international is finding himself in a new role – and is not easy to handle. But Matheus has been coping well with pressure. The winning goal, more than giving three points to the club, makes his efforts recognisable. It is time he gets his flowers.

Control season is back

The starting line-up featured seven midfielders (Nunes, O’Reilly, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, De Bruyne and McAtee). This gave the home side a great control of the ball, reducing Aston Villa’s creativity.

With 63% possession – as opposed to the 56% in the reverse fixture – City only conceded three shots, meaning the idea behind a better team on the ball worked well. It is worth pointing out that Pep Guardiola’s philosophy is to defend with possession; if the opponents do not have the ball, they will not attack.

Although less attractive to watch throughout the entire 90 minutes, this may be a solution for the future. In the end, it is always better to win than to leave frustrated after a roller coaster of emotions.

The Jeremy Doku impact

Jeremy Doku has finally got the end product to his play. The trivela assist to Matheus Nunes was pure art, as was the entire action. It is fair to say that he deserves more chances in the starting XI – and even Pep Guardiola called it.

The Belgian brought up the spark that the squad needed to win it at the very ending. His dribbling is unstoppable once on point and now that he has the passing, it is glory days.

By the way, the Catalan manager was smart to put the number 11 on in the last moments of the match. When the play was controlled, following the game plan, it was time to attack; it was time for Jeremy Doku to dance.