Four things you missed from Aston Villa defeat at Man City - including 'telling' Emery and Guardiola moment

Matheus Nunes’ dramatic 94th-minute winner sealed a significant three points for Man City in the race for Europe after Marcus Rashford scored a penalty to cancel out Bernardo Silva’s early opener.

Unai Emery’s side struggled to find their usual intensity at the Etihad Stadium and paid the price at the death as the fresh legs of Jeremy Doku tore Villa to shreds and Nunes showed great composure to find the net.

It all could’ve been so different if Rashford had scored in the first minute, as the Manchester United loanee struck the post merely 19 seconds into the game. Youri Tielemans fed Rashford, who shimmied past two defenders and drilled the ball into the far woodwork.

Silva drew first blood for City by converting from an Omar Marmoush cutback. It was poor defending from Villa as Matty Cash failed to stop Marmoush getting to the byline and Ezri Konsa’s attempted block was hapless, allowing the ball straight through to the scorer.

Rashford levelled the scoring in the 18th minute, converting from the spot after a foul from Ruben Dias on Jacob Ramsey. Referee Craig Pawson originally waved away the appeals, but VAR intervened. Rashford did well before the penalty was awarded as he chopped inside and Ramsey took over, getting clattered as soon as he received the ball.

Chances were sparse for Villa but not exactly regular for City. There were a few openings for the hosts as Emi Martinez made easy saves from a Kevin De Bruyne header and a tame Mateo Kovacic long-ranger in the first half. There was then a cheeky dink attempt from James McAtee around the 60-minute mark but the attacking midfielder’s effort bounced just wide of the post.

Rashford had Villa’s next and only other big chance as he sprinted onto a long pass and rounded Ortega, but the angle was too acute and he fired the ball into the side-netting. Marmoush then found the net for City in the 80th minute but the linesman’s flag was correctly raised for offside.

It looked as if the points were going to be shared but Nunes had other ideas as he thumped home a dramatic winner deep in second-half stoppage time. Doku skinned Axel Disasi and played an exquisite outside-of-the-boot cross to evade the entire Villa back four, finding Nunes at the far post.

Any defeat so late in a game is gut-wrenching, but this was a particular sucker-punch moment given the vast significance of the fixture. City soar up to third on 61 points and Villa stay seventh on 57, two points adrift of fifth-placed Newcastle United, who have a game in hand.

Whether you were in attendance at the Etihad or were watching from afar, there will have been a few moments or trends you may have missed from the game. Here’s a run-through of four that Birmingham World spotted from the press box.

VAR intervened before a break in play

It’s rare that VAR gets involved before a natural pause in the game, but Pawson’s failure to award a penalty at the first time of asking was such a blatant mistake that he was recommended to stop Man City’s counter-attack early.

It was about 30 seconds after the incident that Pawson was advised to blow his whistle and visit the screen. He then took a further 15 seconds or so to overturn his original decision. Rashford showed superb composure to score after the officials had faffed about, waiting for Stefan Ortega to make the first move before slotting the ball into the bottom right.

Pep Guardiola apoplectic at penalty decision

Guardiola was absolutely furious at Pawson for deciding to follow VAR’s advice as he believed Dias’ challenge on Ramsey didn’t warrant a spot-kick. The City boss flailed his arms in the air, crouched down in disbelief and then intensified his complaints to the fourth official after watching a replay on the big screen.

The home supporters joined Guardiola in the protests by chanting, ‘You’re not fit to referee’. Rather ironically, neither the City manager nor the fans would be fit to referee themselves given the replay, quite literally broadcast to the Etihad, showed the clear trip from Dias. It was evident in real-time and even more so upon further inspection.

Boubacar Kamara meets his match

Kamara has so often been the enforcer at the base of midfield to allow Villa to control spells of matches or, at the very least, interrupt the opposition’s flow. This wasn’t one of those nights, however, as the Frenchman didn’t win anywhere near as many duels as he usually does.

City don’t have the most physical of midfields in the absence of the injured Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, but they’ve often got strength in numbers. Kamara was crowded out more often than not as he didn’t make a single tackle, interception or clearance and failed to win two of his three aerial duels. He did well to pass out under pressure at times but wasn’t as dominant as he usually is defensively.

Emery’s moment of realisation

When Nunes’ goal went in, the reactions of the two managers were telling. Guardiola pumped his arms and roared to the crowd behind him. It was pure exasperation from Emery as he puffed out his cheeks, looked to the sky and held his head in his hands.

Had the score remained at 1-1, Villa would’ve still been one point behind City and still very much within a realistic chance of leapfrogging them before the end of the season. It’s still possible, but the task is now far tougher – especially as City’s goal difference is 18 superior.

The likes of Chelsea, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest could yet drop away to open up a top-five spot for Villa, but it would’ve been handy to keep City in close range too. A lot can still happen in four games but the chances of Champions League qualification were depleted in the final moments at the Etihad. Emery will know and feel that more than anyone.