Manchester City 3 – 0 Aston Villa
Manchester City proved to be too good for Villa today winning the match 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Goals from Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Ilkay Gündogan all in the second half sealed the game for the home team.
Expecting a difficult time against City, Dean Smith opted to include Douglas Luiz to bolster the midfield in place of Hourihane, which resulted in a fairly even first half. Villa came close to scoring in the 24th minute when a McGinn shot was blocked by Ederson into the path of Douglas Luiz. Luiz seemed to be brought down inside the penalty area by Cancelo, but was ruled out by VAR. The only other real opportunity came to City in the 45th minute when David Silva pulled a shot to the right of the goal.
Embed from Getty ImagesHalf Time: Manchester City 0 – 0 Aston Villa
The second half sprang into action and by the 46th minute, Villa were 1-0 down. A long punt up the field by Ederson was flicked on by Jesus under pressure from Mings to Raheem Sterling who only had the keeper to beat. It was a header that Mings will feel he should have won. Things almost went from bad to worse when Villa sloppily gave the ball away to Sterling who fed Jesus just outside the penalty area. Jesus shot at goal beating Heaton, but somehow Mings miraculously got back to clear the shot off the line.
Relentless pressure finally told in the 65th minute, when De Bruyne shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area. The ball flew through a number of players before finishing in the bottom corner of the net. Sterling at first appeared to be in an offside position and impeding the goalkeeper. But after viewing the replays, when De Bruyne made the shot he was onside. VAR agreed (eventually), De Bruyne had scored although David Silva was showing the referee his boot indicating that he had scored. Now, if Silva had touched the ball Sterling would have been offside. 2-0 to Manchester City.
City scored a third in the 70th minute when a cross from the right went across the front of the goal and was cleared only as far as Gündogan who lashed a shot through a number of bodies to beat the keeper. 3-0 to Manchester City.
In the 87th minute, Fernandinho was shown the red card after a second yellow for a needless foul on Davis (on for Wesley). This didn’t stop City from hitting the Bar in the 92nd minute when Jesus tried to chip Heaton. After hitting the bar, the ball bounced off Mings head into the outstretched arms of the grateful keeper. Villa though also showed that they weren’t finished with Davis and McGinn forcing a double save from Ederson, the latter hitting the post.
After the game, the Premier League gave the second goal to David Silva, As we know Sterling was in an offside position when he touched the ball so it wouldn’t have counted at the time. But changing the goalscorer after the game? This time VAR isn’t the real controversy.
Final Score: Manchester City 3 – 0 Aston Villa
Teams:
Manchester City: Ederson, Cancelo, Fernandinho, Mendy (Angelino), Stones, Gündogan, De Bruyne (Foden), D Silva, B Silva, Sterling (Aguero), Jesus
Aston Villa: Heaton, Guilbert, Targett, Engels, Mings, Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Trezeguet, Grealish (El Ghazi), Wesley (Davis)