New Delhi: Manchester City turned in an impressive display to dent Aston Villa’s hopes of a top four Premier League finish on Wednesday night in an entertaining game at Eastlands.
Manchester City turned in an impressive display to dent Aston Villa’s hopes of a top four Premier League finish on Wednesday night in an entertaining game at Eastlands.
The home side took the lead mid-way through a first half they had the better of; Elano slotting home a penalty after James Milner had fouled Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The second half was more end-to-end, with both sides pressing, but it was City who earned a deserved three points when Wright-Phillips sealed the win a minute from time.
The victory sees City return to the top half of the league, while Villa now hold just a three-point advantage over Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification.
Brazilian Elano had been starting his first game in five, while Felipe Caicedo also came into a side that was missing Robinho, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards through injury.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill had no such problems – making no changes from the side that drew 2-2 with Stoke City at the weekend.
Wright-Phillips had the first clear opportunity of the match when he was sent through by Stephen Ireland, but he could only shoot narrowly wide with Villa defender Luke Young putting just enough pressure on the Englishman.
The winger continued to threaten, though, and when he was poorly fouled by Milner, Elano was delighted to confidently step up and slot past Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel to put Mark Hughes’ side ahead.
Wright-Phillips and Ireland almost combined again just before the half-time interval, the former Chelsea man flashing a ball across the goalmouth that narrowly eluded Ireland at the far post.
It was a more even affair after the break as both teams came close to getting on the scoresheet.
Ashley Young became more involved, and his shot deflected over the crossbar before Villa had their best chance of the match.
As the visitors pushed City back in a spell of sustained pressure, a clearance eventually fell for Gareth Barry at the edge of the box. The England midfielder’s sweetly timed volley looked destined for the top corner all the way, but 'keeper Shay Given reacted superbly – tipping the ball just past the post.
From then on, the home side re-asserted their authority as Villa struggled to cope defensively while they pushed players forward in search of an equaliser.
Elano, who had one of his better showings of the season, had a volley of his own superbly stopped by Friedel just after Caicedo was off-target from a Wayne Bridge cross.
But the second goal did arrive in the 89th minute, with Ireland and Wright-Phillips the two involved again. The duo linked up with a series of sharp passes at the edge of the penalty area before Wright-Phillips slipped a shot past Friedel into the far corner to seal victory.
More on Goal.com
Debate: Was Jose Mourinho’s astonishing rant right or wrong?
Comments
0 comment