Premier League: Manchester City 3-1 Aston Villa Report

First-half goals from Rodrigo, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez put City on the way to a 3-1 win over Aston Villa.

Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium tonight.

Looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last time out, City started the game on the right foot, opening the scoring in the fourth minute with Rodri’s header from Riyad Mahrez’s goal.

Buoyed by an early start, Pep Guardiola’s men continued to control proceedings as they almost doubled their lead through Ilkay Gundogan but made a fine save from Emiliano Martinez.

City eventually found the back of the net for a second time, but Gundogan’s shot was denied when Erling Braut Haaland fouled Martinez.

After a poor start to the game, Kevin De Bruyne came alive shortly after the half-hour mark when he beat a number of challenges before beating Jack Grealish, who was kept out of the net by Martinez against his old side.

Villa proved to be the architect of their own downfall as the game approached the halfway mark as a mistake by Calum Chambers allowed Haaland to play in Gundogan and finish from close range.

Despite the added safety of now holding a two-goal lead, City were still not resting on their laurels and deservedly grabbed a third goal thanks to a well-taken penalty from Mahrez after Grealish was clumsily brought down by Boubacar Kamara.

With the game seemingly in cruise control at this point, Guardiola decided to withdraw Haaland and Ruben Dias at half-time, although the former was believed to have a hamstring problem.

City were unable to replicate their strong start to the first half in the second half as they understandably put their foot down.

But the reigning Premier League champions had a serious reality check after the hour mark when Bernardo Silva failed to collect and Douglas Luiz released Brazilian Ollie Watkins in midfield to score his third goal in as many games.

Watkins’ goal set the tone for the rest of the game as Villa continued to struggle to stay on course.

Substitute Philippe Coutinho could have finished off the attack but his cross was saved by Ederson.

As Villa looked for a goal, City jumped at the other end and had to put the final nail in the coffin through Mahrez, who finished from the back.

It was the last significant action of the game as Man City cut the gap at the top of the Premier League table to three points ahead of Wednesday’s crucial clash with division leaders Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa lost back-to-back league games for the first time since Unai Emery was appointed, leaving them seven points behind Fulham in the race for a place in Europe. 

Lineups:

Subs not used: Ortega, Phillips, Gomez, Palmer, Lewis

Subs not used: Sinsalo, Dendoncker, Zych, Swinkels

Scorers:

Bookings:

Man of the Match : Riyad Mahrez