Man City beat Aston Villa 2 – 1 in a game that saw both teams play with 10 men. Manchester City moved closer to becoming Premier League champions after they beat Aston Villa in a match where both sides ended with 10 men.
City, playing for the first time since they signed up to the European Super League and then withdrew from the competition, had centre-half John Stones sent off just before the break for a knee-high challenge on Jacob Ramsey.
However, Villa wasted the man advantage when Matty Cash was dismissed 11 minutes into the second half following two bookings in the space of three minutes.
Villa went ahead after only 20 seconds as John McGinn guided a shot past Ederson following Ollie Watkins’ low cross.
The impressive Phil Foden finished off a fine City team move to equalise before Rodri headed the visitors in front following Bernardo Silva’s cross.
City led 2-1 when they went down to 10 men, but Villa could not capitalise on the extra player and then offered little threat when it was 10-a-side.
Pep Guardiola’s team are 11 points clear of Manchester United and need eight points from their final five matches to become English champions for the third time in four seasons.
Stones will be suspended for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley as City, who are also in the Champions League semi-finals, aim to pick up the first of a potential three trophies this season. A bad day for Stones, but his red does not cost City
Stones has been in fine form this season, making more Premier League appearances than he managed in 2019-20, with his performances earning an England recall after 16 months out of the national side.
However, with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate in the stands, it was an evening to forget for the 26-year-old. He was caught out in the first few seconds of the match when he failed to collect a long ball from England team-mate Tyrone Mings, enabling Watkins to set up McGinn for the joint quickest Premier League goal of the season.
Stones was then shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Ramsey near the halfway line and in front of the two dugouts.
After a check by the video assistant referee Jarred Gillett, on-field referee Peter Banks watched the incident on a pitchside monitor and showed the red card to Stones, although Guardiola was unhappy with the decision and remonstrated with the officials.
With a man advantage, Villa’s Douglas Luiz curled a 25-yard effort straight at Ederson but the match swung back in City’s favour following two Cash challenges on Foden, the second of which was a sliding challenge that wiped out the England midfielder close to the touchline.
From then on City were able to dominate possession and now only need three more league wins to become English champions for the seventh time in their history.
Source – BBC News
