Nunes fires injury time winner as City move up to third in Premier League | OneFootball

Matheus Nunes scored a dramatic 94th-minute winner as City secured a crucial three points in the race for the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

The visitors looked like they would escape the Etihad Stadium with a draw until the Portuguese turned in Jeremy Doku’s low cross at the far post.

City had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Bernardo Silva blasted home Omar Marmoush’s pull-back from the byline.

But the visitors were level through Marcus Rashford 10 minutes later with a controversial penalty after Ruben Dias was adjudged to have tripped Jacob Ramsey.

City pushed for a winner and it finally arrived when Nunes showed perfect timing to steer in a late goal to snatch a crucial win over our rivals for the top five.

What happened

With the Premier League title race and relegation issues all but confirmed, the race for next season’s Champions League is probably the most fascinating story in the top-flight for the rest of the campaign.

Just three points separated third and seventh ahead of the game and a win would have been significant ahead of the weekend when our rivals play while City and Villa are in FA Cup action.

Pep Guardiola recalled James McAtee and Mateo Kovacic to his starting line-up after impressing and scoring in our last game at the Etihad – the 5-2 win over Crystal Palace.

Villa, eliminated from this season’s Champions League seven days earlier by Paris Saint-Germain, are desperate to make a quick return.

And they made a fast start at the Etihad, almost taking the lead inside 20 seconds, when Rashford fired a shot off the inside of the post before the ball rebounded into the grateful arms of Stefan Ortega Moreno.

City grabbed a precious advantage seven minutes later when Bernardo fired us ahead. Marmoush was the architect, sprinting down the left flank before cutting the ball pack to the Portuguese midfielder whose shot was too strong for Martinez, despite getting both hands to it.

But the visitors were handed a way back into game in the 18th minute when VAR ordered referee Craig Pawson to the screen after Ramsey went down in the box under a challenge from Dias.

Fans inside the stadium were furious when the replay was shown on the big screen while Pep Guardiola was booked for his protest, but Rashford made no mistake from the spot.

Despite the setback, City pinned the visitors back for large parts of the first half with Marmoush going closest with a towering header over the bar from Nico O’Reilly’s cross.

Kevin De Bruyne took a succession of corners at the start of the second half as City remained on top, while O’Reilly miscued a volley just off-target.

Villa’s threat was coming on the counter-attack with Rashford escaping either side of half time but shooting tamely on both occasions.

City almost caught them out at their own game from a threatening Villa free-kick, speeding to the other end of the pitch where McAtee took the ball brilliantly and lofted a first time shot over Martinez but agonisingly wide of the far post.

He then went close to turning in O’Reilly's driven cross but couldn’t make proper contact with the ball and Martinez collected at full-length.

Marmoush did have the ball in the back of the net with 10 remaining but was flagged offside, a decision backed up by VAR.

Doku came on to try to make a late impact and he conjured up a late twist. He drove a low centre across the Villa box which Nunes turned in at the far post from a tight angle to send the Etihad wild.

TEAMS

City: Ortega, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne (Akanji 96), McAtee (Doku 74), Bernardo, Marmoush.

Subs not used: Carson, Grealish, Nico, Savinho, Khusanov, Foden, Lewis.

Villa: Martinez, Cash, Torres, Konsa, Digne (Disasi 61), Kamara, Onana (Asensio 76), Tielemans, Ramsey (McGinn 61), Rogers (Malen 86), Rashford (Watkins 76).

Subs not used: Olsen, Barkley, Andres Garcia, Maatsen.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

It was a classic non-stop breathless performance from Bernardo as he tried to pull us ahead in the Champions League race.

At Everton three days earlier, he took a wing position, stretching the Toffees defence so wide that at times he was almost sitting in the front row for a final visit to the great old stadium.

But against he was more central, flitting between the centre-backs one moment and supplementing the attack the next.

Although to say he was playing through the middle, does him a slight disservice as he covered every inch of the Etihad.

His goal was celebrated wildly, as was another determined showing as he moves to within two matches of 400 appearances for the Blues.

PEP GUARDIOLA REACTION

"I'm really happy. We're in the last four in the last five games and a Champions League contender for qualification.

"Aston Villa is a team to the last man, one of the top teams in Europe.

"We played really good. We were aggressive in our duels, the back-four was unbelievable.

"Football is emotion. For the fans, players, we have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League.

"The players behave unbelievable - we are so pleased.

"The action from Jeremy Doku, he can create something with his pace."

MATHEUS NUNES REACTION

"It was very important. I mean this was a very tough game and a very tough opponent. We came with the mentality that we needed to win this game and that’s what happened." he said.

On his first Premier League goal of the season he said: "Perfect timing! It couldn’t have come at a better time.

"We will see at the end of the season how big it will be. Every three points now will be very important. We will go for every game for the three points."

What IT MEANS

City move up to third in the Premier League and four points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand.

The London side have a game in hand but Villa remain seventh and are also four points behind Guardiola's side, with them and Villa having four games remaining.

What’s next

City are back at Wembley on Sunday 27 April for an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, which kicks off at 16:30 (UK).

Guardiola’s side are aiming to reach the FA Cup final for a third successive season.