All Manchester City can do is the same as they did tonight against Aston Villa: beat the next opponent and hope that Liverpool – and Arsenal – slip up in the remaining games of this invigorating championship race.
This scenario is due to the four dropped points in the draws in the previous two matches with their title rivals. And in Unai Emery’s Champions League hopefuls, City took on and defeated the team directly below them, finally recording a victory over a top-six side.
They did so without Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne who were substitutes, and via Phil Foden whose scintillating hat-trick took his tally to 21 of a career-best season, and decorated City’s win. Now, the champions wait to see how Liverpool prosper at Anfield on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s 12.30pm appointment at Crystal Palace.
Loss, draw, win read Villa’s record in their previous three league outings; a total of four points to City’s five in the same span. Emiliano Martínez was named in the visitors’ XI but was taken ill so Robin Olsen replaced the No 1 for a second league appearance this season.
Emery’s side were missing their 22-goal striker, Ollie Watkins, too, due to a hamstring problem. So into this void stepped Jhon Durán for only a second league start, and he would score.
First, though, Julián Álvarez, Haaland’s stand-in, latched on to a Jack Grealish ball but hit the side-netting. Jérémy Doku, operating on the opposite right flank to the former Villa captain, won a free-kick which Foden launched and Olsen plucked from the air.
This is a trademark of Pep Guardiola’s City: the use of wings to find gaps in which to prosper. Grealish was being booed by his former fans but did not give a fig as he bamboozled Villa’s right side and then came Rodri’s opener – from Doku’s flank.
Foden passed backwards to Manuel Akanji who returned possession. Now Foden illustrated why he resembles De Bruyne as his ball to Doku was deftly cunning and, when the Belgian zipped a cross to Rodri, the finish resembled one of his pinpoint passes, allowing Olsen zero chance.
Rodri pumped the air and encouraged the home faithful to raise the noise, which they did. Soon they were quietened. Durán’s equaliser was the textbook mode of breaching City. One moment Álvarez attacked in Villa’s area, the next they broke, the Colombian swapped passes with Morgan Rogers and steered a shot, from an angle on the left, into Stefan Ortega’s far corner.
City’s riposte featured a Grealish volley that skidded wide and a phase in which they lost the plot. Grealish was booked, following a Guardiola tantrum at Robert Jones, the fourth official, when Lucas Digne was not penalised for a challenge on Doku.
Then City were back to engineering chances. Álvarez burst along the right channel, unloaded a shot and Olsen’s leg saved Villa. Then Doku fed the Argentina forward in a similar zone and he blazed high. But far better came in the half’s added time.
Douglas Luiz yanked down Foden on the edge of the area and the England international threaded the free-kick through a gap in Villa’s wall to beat Olsen to his right. Cut to a delighted Guardiola and a furious Emery, as an entertaining first period ended with Olsen tipping over Álvarez’s header.
Nicolò Zaniolo may have been the focus of Emery’s anger, for being the leak in the wall. The manager would have approved, in theory, of Josko Gvardiol blocking Moussa Diaby’s drive in a contest far more open than City’s goalless affair with Arsenal.
So City required a cushion to feel comfortable. Shots from Doku and Bernardo Silva dallied with providing this as they purred, rolling the ball around. Yet they were nearly sucker-punched again, as Villa mugged them, roved downfield, and saw Douglas Luiz’s effort inside the area repelled by Ortega.
Emery’s tactic was a carbon copy of Mikel Arteta’s: a thick block in defence and a wait to raid their hosts. Zaniolo was the latest to try the ploy, his attempt inside City’s box requiring Rúben Dias to put his body on the line to stymie it.
But there was nothing Villa could do about a Foden second created by brilliant Rodri footwork. That removed three players before the regal midfielder shifted the ball laterally to Foden whose strike was a guided missile Olsen could only stare at.
Foden’s third was a zinger as he regained the ball and, from the Villa D, rifled the roof of Olsen’s net. It sent him, Guardiola and all City enthusiasts into ecstasy. It also meant Rodri and Silva could enjoy a breather, as Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes entered for the closing minutes.
It meant, too, a complete evening off for Haaland and De Bruyne and with next week’s trip to Real Madrid after Palace, this may prove priceless. When Foden was replaced the cheer he received was loud – and deserved.