Key events
52 min: One corner leads to another, then another, and finally Martinez claims.
51 min: McAtee sends the free kick into the box, a sensational outswinger to the far stick. Gvardiol prepares to slam home from six yards only for Onana to extend a leg and divert it wide right for a corner. That’s wonderful play all round.
50 min: O’Reilly drives down the left, holding off Rogers all the way. He sashays infield and is tugged back one too many times by Rogers. Over he goes for the free kick, while Rogers goes into the book.
48 min: Marmoush is constantly in motion, a class act. He bustles down the inside-left channel and nearly manages to release O’Reilly into the Villa box, but the final ball doesn’t quite come off.
47 min: Rogers chases a long ball down the middle. Gvardiol comes across to put a stop to his gallop? Illegally? Rogers thinks so, but the referee doesn’t. “£292!” splutters Zach Neeley. “That’s $400 here in the states, where we need all of it to pay for things under our “shoot ourselves in the foot” trade policy. Are there not what we would call nosebleed seats in the premiere league? In my younger days I used to hike to a vertigo inducing top row of the local basketball arena (our version of the Spurs, Victor Wembanyama could probably high five me up there) and didn’t feel like I wasn’t going to fall off the earth til I’d had a beer, but it was cheap.”
City get the second half underway. No changes.
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HALF TIME: Manchester City 1-1 Aston Villa
The scoreline seems about right on the balance of play. A very entertaining game between two progressive, easy-on-the-eye sides. Well worth £292 for a family of four.
45 min +4: Rashford tries to bring the ball down on the edge of the City D. He can’t get it under enough control to shoot. Kovacic comes across, hangs out a leg and shoves him over, but the referee’s not interested in blowing for a foul. Rashford’s turn to look perplexed.
45 min +2: McAtee curls in from the right but Marmoush, haring along the opposite channel, can’t bring it down. Goal kick.
45 min: There will be four additional minutes.
44 min: Martinez passes out from the back, beating the high City press. Digne advances down the left and wins a corner. From the set piece, Onana wins a header and powers it goalwa … no, it’s heading wide from close range. A bad miss, and the ball clatters into poor O’Reilly’s startled mug. City clear their lines, the whistle goes for a foul on a defender, and O’Reilly shakes his head briskly to recover. Villa finishing this half strongly.
42 min: Rashford’s dismal delivery fails to beat the first man, and City launch a counter attack. Marmoush accelerates down the left, drifts infield, and looks to have been dragged back by Rashford. It should be a free kick and a booking, but the referee waves play on. The City fans not happy. Marmoush not best pleased either.
41 min: Marmoush skittles Tielemans out on the Villa right. A free kick and a chance for the visitors to load the box. Rashford to take.
39 min: Digne loops a pass down the inside-left channel for Rashford to chase. Rashford gets ahead of Dias as he enters the box, but can’t connect with the bouncing ball as he tries to steer it past Ortega.
38 min: Kovacic, under no pressure whatsoever in the centre circle, sends a pass whistling into the stand to the left. On the touchline, a disbelieving Pep holds his head in his hands.
37 min: O’Reilly whips a cross in from the left. Marmoush heads over from six yards. Lovely movement to get in between, and ahead of, Torres and Konsa, but he should have done better with his header. That was a great chance.
35 min: De Bruyne passes out from the back. Digne arrives way late, clips his toe, and goes into the book. He can’t have any complaints about that.
34 min: De Bruyne drops deep and quarterbacks a glorious diagonal pass towards Marmoush out on the left. Just a little too much juice on the ball. Goal kick. Marmoush nearly got to that, though, and had he done so, Villa were in a wee bit of bother.
32 min: Kovacic threatens to burst into the Villa box down the left but is stopped by Tielemans, who telescopes a leg to divert the ball out for a corner. The resulting set piece is met by Gvardiol, who sends his header high and wide.
30 min: Villa throw long into the City mixer. The hosts make a meal of clearing it, but amid a game of penalty-box bagatelle, the ball doesn’t drop for Ramsey and eventually it’s hoicked away from danger.
29 min: De Bruyne looks up for it tonight, perhaps in the mood to prove a point, if his recent remarks about not being offered a new contract are anything to go by. He nicks the ball off Kamara out on the City left and isn’t far away from finding Marmoush in the middle. The ball deflects back to Martinez, who takes some sting out of the game by holding onto possession in the professional clock-management style.
28 min: Ramsey contests a City throw while turning and catches Silva in the chest with his studs. Accidental, yet a bit reckless, and he’s lucky not to go into the book.
26 min: … so having said that, the volume drops and Villa’s fans break into the Library chant. Kovacic tries to get everyone going again by skelping a long-range shot towards the bottom left, but there’s not enough oomph behind it and it’s easy for Martinez.
25 min: There’s a pleasing edge to this game after that equaliser. Players snapping into their duels. Everyone fully aware of the importance of this match in the race for a top-five finish. The crowd well up for it too.
23 min: Marmoush floats a cross in from the left. De Bruyne tries to flick a header across Martinez but doesn’t get enough on it and the ball floats into the keeper’s arms. This is a lot of end-to-end fun.
21 min: Anyway, that penalty. Dias certainly clipped Ramsey, who slowed down to draw the foul and was certainly looking for it. Clumsy from the defender. “Definitely a pen and not even controversial, he absolutely takes him out,” writes Hugh Molloy. Ramsey slowed down a little and Dias duly ploughed into him. Poor defending. Reckless.”
19 min: City nearly respond in classic fashion. Marmoush nearly gets in ahead of Cash, chasing a simple ping down the middle. Marmoush extends a leg but can’t connect properly. Martinez comes out to block and Konsa clears the loose ball.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Aston Villa (Rashford 18 pen)
To a chorus of boos, Rashford gives Ortega the eyes, sits the keeper down, and rolls elegantly into the bottom right. Pep continues to fume, and is booked for giving the referee the what-for. Game on!
17 min: The footage goes up on the big screen, and the Etihad erupts in anger. Pep fumes on the touchline. There was plenty of contact, not sure why everyone’s so livid. Anyway, it’s Rashford, parent club Manchester United, to take.
Penalty to Villa!
16 min: … VAR asks the referee to go over to the monitor! Ramsey entered the box down the inside-left channel, getting in ahead of Dias, coming across from the flank. Dias clipped him with his knee, and it’s going to be a penalty.
15 min: Marmoush, buzzing around in perpetual motion, robs Konsa down the left flank to set City off on another probing mission. Pass, probe, pass. But Villa remain patient, and when they finally snaffle possession back, Rashford goes flying down the left at great speed … and to the soundtrack of pantomime boos. He cuts infield and looks for Ramsey, who looks to have been clipped by Dias in the box. Play goes on. But …
13 min: City are suddenly purring. De Bruyne tries to release McAtee into the Villa box down the inside-right channel with a lob wedge of a pass, but gets a little too much on it. Sand wedge. Martinez claims.
11 min: The more they replay the goal, the more Martinez looks culpable. Two strong hands would have parried that easily. As it was, he flapped, the ball flew downwards and pinged into the bottom right off his body.
9 min: Martinez has a row with the referee about the goal, perhaps arguing that McAtee was offside and somehow affecting play, but the City man’s not in the road. In any case, the keeper probably should have done better. Silva’s shot was straight at him, and it was a weak parry. Martinez follows up mistakes against PSG and Newcastle with another questionable contribution.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Aston Villa (Silva 7)
An old-fashioned City goal, this. A cut-back from the byline, Marmoush skinning Cash down the left. It’s hammered home by Silva, rushing in and meeting the ball eight yards out. Martinez tries to parry but can only help the ball into the bottom right.
6 min: City attempt to establish a level of control with some of their trademark patient passing. Villa hold their shape. “On the topic of ticket prices, this feels like the time to ponder an age-old question,” suggests Kieran McKintosh. “When ticket prices are so high, and HD TV commentary with all the angles is so common, is it actually better to have a night in with mates/family watching the game on TV? Someone else on this MBM can do the maths, but surely one or two packs of beers, a big bag of crisps and a pizza or two to share does not cost £229. Not even in London.”
4 min: Cash and Ramsey probe down the right but are forced to turn tail. Villa come again, though, the former looking for the latter in the middle with a low drilled cross. City clear their lines. A lovely open feel to this game already.
2 min: City respond through Marmoush, who advances down the left to win the first corner of the game. De Bruyne’s delivery of it is uncharacteristically poor. What a start to this game, though!
17 secs: Ollie Watkins scored after 34 seconds against Newcastle on Saturday. Marcus Rashford nearly does so after half that tonight! He twists and turns down the inside-left channel before threading a shot across Ortega and off the base of the right-hand post!
Villa get the ball rolling. It’s not a sell-out.
The teams are out. City in their sky blue, Villa in claret. We’ll be off in a minute. “Never mind Ollie Watkins or City’s mid-season collapse,” begins Justin Kavanagh. “The burning question of the day is … what’s with these top-flight footie haircuts that make the barnet look like a swimming cap? That dreaded look, achieved much more cheaply I’m guessing, used to be known in our schooldays as the pudding-bowl haircut. You know you’re getting old when the haircuts of young multi-millionaires are completely baffling to you.” You’re talking about Phil Foden, aren’t you. I’m going nowhere near this subject. Bottom line: what I’d give to be able to still grow a pudding-bowl cut.
“Together we are stronger.” City’s fans have one or two things to say about that particular philosophical concept, with specific regard to ticket prices, the release of season tickets, and the effect ticketing policy is having on future generations of supporters. They’ve held a protest outside the stadium to tell it as they see it. Preach on, brothers and sisters.
Pep Guardiola talks to Sky. “Everybody is ready … we need a specific quality from McAtee and hopefully he can help the team and perform well … Villa are an exceptional team … in the best form … the challenge is there … five finals and today is the first one … let’s go … we were so low a month ago … we improve a little bit and hopefully we can be consistent again … we play for different targets that we have been used to in the past but at the same time it is exciting as well … together we are stronger … we want the fans behind us especially in bad moments … we are stronger.”
Unai Emery speaks to Sky Sports. “Good evening … the match today … game 34 … now we are going to play for three points … to be consistent is the most important … the demand for us will be huge … a challenge … try to dominate … duels … feel comfortable … we know all the difficulties we are going to face … it is not a final but it is important … City are favourites … we are motivated and I am very excited.”
He’s pushed on picking Marcus Rashford ahead of the in-form and “fuming” Ollie Watkins, but won’t be drawn, instead simply repeating the word “collective”.
“Poor Ollie Watkins.” So begins Kieran McKintosh’s email. “Clearly Unai Emery didn’t read Point 3 of the latest Talking Points article. Hopefully Watkins gets subbed on in minute 65 or so and rips it up again. He was a joy to watch last week, and a very likeable player.”
So for those that missed it, here’s what Barney Ronay had to say …
Ollie Watkins has a point. What is the appropriate response to losing your starting place in a team you helped drive into the Champions League, to a loan player who has one goal in nine league games? Watkins said he was “furious” and – also, just to be clear – “angry” after being replaced by Marcus Rashford in attack for the prime games against Paris Saint-Germain. He played like it against Newcastle, scoring after 23 seconds, his 15th of the season in the league, and hitting the woodwork twice. Unai Emery made the entirely correct point in victory that football is a squad game and Watkins a fantastic team player. But he is also 30 this year, Villa’s best forward and would slot nicely into the first XIs of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Maybe don’t make him too angry.
Manchester City make two changes to the team that started the 2-0 win at Everton last weekend. Nico González and Savinho make way for Mateo Kovačić and James McAtee. Ederson is still missing so Stefan Ortega remains in goal.
Aston Villa make four changes to their starting XI after the 4-1 rout of Newcastle United. Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford are in; Ian Maatsen, John McGinn, Marco Asensio and Ollie Watkins drop to the bench, while Tyrone Mings misses out altogether. Watkins will very possibly not be 100 percent happy with this turn of events, given how he played on Saturday evening and what he said afterwards.
The teams
Manchester City: Ortega, Matheus Luiz, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Gundogan, Kovacic, Silva, De Bruyne, McAtee, Marmoush.
Subs: Carson, Grealish, Doku, Gonzalez, Akanji, Savio, Khusanov, Foden, Lewis.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Onana, Rogers, Tielemans, Ramsey, Rashford.
Subs: Olsen, Disasi, Barkley, McGinn, Watkins, Garcia, Malen, Asensio, Maatsen.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
The race for a top-five finish is heating up …
… so this is a big one. Ostensibly this is too close to call, with Manchester City coming back into form (four wins in five) and Aston Villa very much in it (ten wins in 11). However City’s current streak in this particular fixture is 14 wins in a row, so while Villa triumphed in the reverse fixture last December, Unai Emery’s side have quite the mental hurdle to clear if they’re to complete their first league double over City since 1962-63. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
