Manchester City claimed a vital three points in their hunt to salvage a Champions League spot by defeating Aston Villa 2-1 thanks to Matheus Nunes' late goal. The result sees Pep Guardiola's side move up to third in the Premier League table. However, Villa's hopes of qualifying for European soccer's top competition again now hang in the balance as they are seventh in the division.
Man City–Aston Villa Premier League player ratings
Below, we're rating the City players on a scale of 1 to 10.
Goalkeeper and defenders
Stefan Ortega (GK): 5
Ortega was fortunate not to be beaten by Marcus Rashford early on as the Manchester United loanee struck the post. However, Rashford did then slot his penalty past the City keeper.
Matheus Nunes (RB): 6
Jacob Ramsey got around the back of Nunes on too many occasions. The City defender also struggled when Rashford drifted onto the left flank. Nunes is predominantly a midfielder, so his defensive shortcomings are to be expected. However, he made amends by scoring the winner from a tight angle.
Ruben Dias (CB): 5
Dias had a challenging evening against in-form Rashford. However, he was better with the ball as he sprayed out some impressive passes. One of these out to Omar Marmoush led to City's opener. Dias did clip Ramsey, which led to the penalty that Rashford converted.
Josko Gvardiol (CB): 6
The left-back did well filling in at the center. Gvardiol was involved in the build-up to Nunes' winning goal.
Nico O'Reilly (LB): 6
O'Reilly was solid defensively, especially when up against former City player Morgan Rogers. However, he would have wanted to have had more of an impact going forward.
Midfielders
Mateo Kovacic (CDM): 6
Kovacic struggled to dominate the midfield as he was up against a strong Villa attack.
Ilkay Gundogan (CAM): 6
Kept the game ticking with some nice passes, but was not too much of a threat to Villa's defence.
Bernardo Silva (CAM): 7
Silva scored City's first goal as his shot from close range could not be kept out by Emiliano Martinez. The midfielder's contract expires at the end of next season, and there is already speculation that he could be in line for a move to Barcelona.
Forwards
James McAtee (RW): 7
McAtee impressed with strong runs forward and improvised bits of skill. However, he missed a chance to get on the scoresheet with a lobbed effort. Jeremy Doku replaced McAtee after 74 minutes and set up Nunes' winner.
Kevin De Bruyne (CF): 7
De Bruyne filled in as a false number nine. However, he often dropped back to play some excellent through passes over the Villa back line. Manuel Akanji replaced De Bruyne in added time.
Omar Marmoush (LW): 7
Marmoush set up Silva's goal after a fine piece of close control, followed by a dribble past Matty Cash and an effective cut-back.
Substitutes
- Jeremy Doku, 7/10
- Manuel Akanji, N/A