Matheus Nunes comes to Manchester City's rescue

Matheus Nunes scored a late winner as Manchester City beat Aston Villa to go third in the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola was in a jubilant mood after watching his side take a giant step towards securing UEFA Champions League football for next season.

Heading into the game with just a one point advantage over Aston Villa, it was a key battle in the top five race.

It all started so well for City.

Omar Marmoush danced into the Villa penalty area to pick out Bernardo Silva and the Portuguese midfielder put his side one up.

"He has made a big call," said Roy Keane reacting to the news that Unai Emery had opted to start Marcus Rashford over Ollie Watkins.

But his decision appeared justified when Rashford slotted home a penalty after 18 minutes.

The England international has been a thorn in the side of City throughout his career.

This was his sixth goal against the Citizens, a tally only bettered by the eight he has notched versus Leicester.

With the game seemingly destined to end as a draw, the introduction of Jeremy Doku sparked the home side into life.

After powering his way past Axel Disasi, he provided an inch perfect ball into the path of Matheus Nunes to hand City a vital win.

Agony was written all over the face of Unai Emery.

The loss is a hammer blow to Villa's UEFA Champions League chances, who now find themselves two points off the pace having played one more game than their direct rivals.

A crestfallen Emery spoke to Sky Sports after the game: "We cannot waste time. We competed well and close to drawing. We tried to win with the substitutes. They did the same and they scored.

"We played a competitive match and had our chances. We had to accept it."

Villa now have four games to keep their top five dream alive.

They welcome Fulham to Villa Park a week on Saturday before games against Bournemouth, Tottenham and Manchester United round off their season.

William Dobbie

• Manchester City F.C.
• Aston Villa F.C.
• Premier League
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