Matheus Nunes struck deep into stoppage time to give Manchester City a priceless victory over fellow top-five contenders Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium in the battle for a Champions League place.
What could be a preview of next month’s FA Cup final looked set to end level as City struggled to find a way through the Villa defence after Marcus Rashford cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s early opener from the penalty spot.
But, with their final attack, substitute Jeremy Doku skipped past Axel Disasi down the left, then delivered a brilliant low cross with the outside of his right boot, which rolled perfectly through the six-yard box for Nunes, who drilled his first Premier League goal of the season into the bottom corner.
It was a familiar feeling for Villa, who have now lost an incredible 15 successive league games at Manchester City.
The importance of the goal was shown in the celebrations of manager Pep Guardiola at full-time, who hugged Nunes in delight, then made his way round the rest of his squad before saluting the home fans.
City are now third, four points clear of Villa and Chelsea, who have a game in hand and remain just outside the top five.
And crucially, while City’s run-in includes matches against Wolves and relegated Southampton, Chelsea must play Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
Guardiola’s glee at late winner
Guardiola’s glee at the final whistle was in stark contrast to the fury he was still feeling at the penalty Villa had been awarded when he emerged for the second half.
A replay of Ruben Dias’ challenge on Jacob Ramsey was being shown at just the wrong time from Guardiola’s perspective as he shook his head angrily, still believing there had been no foul.
Evidently, the City boss was still simmering as the second half ticked on; in his mind, the importance of victory absolutely huge.
There was no other explanation for how he sank to his knees in despair as James McAtee delicately lifted the ball over Emiliano Martinez, but just wide of the goal as the home side hunted a winner.
It was not supposed to be like that when Silva crashed home Omar Marmoush’s cutback after the ball flicked off Ezri Konsa.
But this City team are still not the force they once were. The sight of the injured duo Erling Haaland and Rodri, sat next to each other as they willed their team-mates on underlined the huge gaps remaining in Guardiola’s preferred line-up.
It is why, for all he has achieved, securing a place in next season’s Champions League would be a significant milestone in the Spaniard’s stellar managerial career.
Rashford makes his mark
It is more than nine years since Rashford first played at the Etihad and scored the only goal to give victory to a Manchester United side managed by Louis van Gaal.
The England forward has achieved so much since then, but this season has been a toil.
The nadir came when United arrived at this stadium without him in December after he had been axed, along with Alejandro Garnacho, by head coach Ruben Amorim for below-par performances in training, in addition to a poor attitude.
While Garnacho was quickly restored to Amorim’s squad, Rashford never played again.
The move to Villa has returned him to form and to the England squad.
His penalty might only have been his fourth Villa goal, two of which came against Championship strugglers Preston in the FA Cup, but he has his mojo back.
Rashford could have scored after no more than 20 seconds, but racing on to Youri Tielemans’ pass, he sent Ruben Dias the wrong way to create space, then watched his low shot come back off the post when he thought it was going in.
It was his rapid run that started the attack that led to Dias taking down Ramsey, and a decision so controversial that Guardiola was still shaking his head when he saw a replay on the big screen as he took his seat for the second half.
Rashford spurned two more chances to score. One before the break, when he could not beat Stefan Ortega after his pace carried him into a one-on-one situation with the German goalkeeper. On the second occasion, he skipped round Ortega but from an acute angle could only find the side-netting.
Predictably, the home fans gave Rashford grief as he was replaced by Ollie Watkins late in the game. His response was to quietly offer his applause to the visiting fans.
Wherever his career takes him next, Rashford is in a far better position than when he should have come here, but did not, with Manchester United four months ago.
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