Manchester City Take Giant Leap Towards Champions League Qualification After Smash-and-Grab Victory Over Villa 4n1b50

Find Manchester City vs Aston Villa highlights below after Matheus Nunes’ last-gasp winner leaves the visitors’ hopes of Champions League qualification hanging by a thread.

Granted the Premier League will have five Champions League slots from next season — and as such Aston Villa still have scope for qualification — but this latest defeat feels momentous.

In a game that was being billed as have huge ramifications for securing safe age to Europe’s elite club competition, it was Manchester City who prevailed to cement their grip on the top three, and move a point ahead of Nottingham Forest — albeit having played a game more.

Matheus Nunes, who continues to be deployed as an unorthodox right-back by an experimental Pep Guardiola, proved to be the hero on the night, tucking the ball into an open net after substitute Jeremy Doku’s fizzing ball across the box.

A somewhat grating second-half watch in which City choked Villa for large swathes followed a fairly balanced first-half, in which Bernardo Silva’s seventh-minute opener was quickly cancelled out by Marcus Rashford, whose penalty will have quietly delighted the red side of Manchester.

City collecting all three points leaves Unai Emery and Aston Villa with plenty of catching up to do. Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest all sit above them, all with a game in hand, meaning at the conclusion of gameweek 34 they could be five points off the pace.

WATCH: Manchester City vs Aston Villa Highlights 5h2y2n

Aston Villa will need to dust themselves off quickly before Saturday’s trip to Wembley, where they face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals.

A potential third meeting with Manchester City this season could well be on the cards, this time in a cup final, with the head-to-head poised at one-a-piece.

Despite a tumultuous season by their lofty standards, City also find themselves in the final four of the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest.