City looked to have done themselves another disservice against Aston Villa on Sunday, after throwing away a 2-0 lead to be drawing with The Villans, only for Fernandinho step up to the plate and win the game for The Blues, on a dramatic evening in East Manchester.
Manuel Pellegrini put out the same team that beat West Ham United last weekend, with some players still out through injury. However, Wilfried Bony did return on the bench after some time out with injury, as did James Milner. Sergio Aguero continued to lead the line on his own against Tim Sherwood’s new team.
And it didn’t take long for Aguero to show he’s returning to his former self, after opening the scoring with just 4 minutes gone – although the goal will probably be remembered more for Guzan’s mistake than it will be for Aguero’s finish. The American keeper received the ball from his defender, and tried to play it across the face of his own goal, but he was unable to get enough power behind the pass, which allowed Aguero to intercept for an easy finish that set City up for a more comfortable game.
The rest of the first half was more notable for Aston Villa attacks than it was for City attacks, although The Blues did put in a good performance in the first 45 minutes. Joe Hart was called into action more than once, denying Cristian Benteke from close range. Neither team was able to capitalise on their chances, and City went in 1-0 up and feeling on a high.
However, the second half was a very different story. Aston Villa took advantage of the half-time removal of Yaya Toure to be replaced by Fernandinho, and looked much more comfortable on the ball in the second period, creating much more attacking play for much of the half.
Despite that, City were the first to grab a goal in the second half, on 66 minutes. The Blues were given a free-kick in the left channel, which Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up to take. He hit it goalwards, and watched as it flew past Guzan to double the City lead and seemingly put them in a comfortable position.
All comfort was taken away two minutes later however, with Tom Cleverley reducing the deficit almost immediately. A free-kick was taken from out wide on the left, which Hart came out to try and punch away. It was knocked down before Hart could get to it, leaving the Englishman stranded on the penalty spot. The ball soon ended up at the feet of Cleverley, who had little trouble putting it in to half the margin of defeat.
That goal only served to motivate Villa, pushing them onto try and gain something from the match, which they looked to have managed on 85 minutes, with Carlos Sanchez equalising. Following a corner, the ball found its way to Sanchez not far from the penalty spot, and the Colombian needed only one touch to put it past Joe Hart, seemingly having recovered a point for Aston Villa.
However, City took heed from that and improved in the remainder of the match, before Fernandinho sent City fans into raptures on 89 minutes. The ball, fired in from a corner, hit the chest of Fernandinho (unbeknownst to the man himself) which gave him time to then acrobatically fire the ball past Brad Guzan to put City back in front.
There were then four perilous minutes of injury time during which The Blues resorted to hoofing the ball clear. There was some controversy surrounding an offside decision about Cristian Benteke late in injury time, but City managed to hold on for an important and deserved win. The performance – at least in the first half – shows we might be regaining some of our form in the run-in to the end of the season, news that will be music to the ears of many.
