Man City vs Aston Villa

Man City play first game since being charged with over 100 breaches of Premier League's financial rules.

If City were to win that match too they’ll go top of the table. 90+2 mins: Off the bar! It bounces kindly for Jhon Duran who sneaks in behind Manuel Akanji and meets the ball on the swivel volleying it towards goal. They have been incredible but we made a step forward in this game, and we want to show the best version of Manchester City.” Man City 3-1 Aston Villa [Man City respond to Premier League charges with familiar show of strength](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/man-city-aston-villa-result-premier-league-b2280824.html) We are happy and now every game is a final for us. Full-time: Man City 3-1 Aston Villa FT Man City 3-1 Aston Villa Guardiola stopped playing games with his own side and City powered to victory, courtesy of an emphatic start. [Aston Villa](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/aston-villa) were demolished before half-time. [Manchester City](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/manchester-city).

After a tumultuous week off the pitch, Manchester City host Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium as they aim to keep their Premier League title bid on track.

They could prove very fruitful against a Man City side who will push plenty of players forward to force the issue. That defeat aside, Villa look much better defensively and are set up to counter. By the time this game kicks off, City could be eight points behind Arsenal. Rodri (see above) and he should start a podcast. Unai Emery’s Villa was well-prepared and it just didn’t matter in the long run. Erling Haaland: The work he did on the second goal showcased his full skill set. We didn’t have this opportunity, we are already sentenced. Are we going to sleep on this cat’s greatness until he’s retired, too? You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League are accusing us without us having the ability to defend. We have already been condemned. Villa’s 13th-straight loss at the Etihad’s silver lining is another goal from Ollie Watkins. Rodri joins us to talk about how Manchester City is handling the speculation around the club, and the huge match against Arsenal on Wednesday.

Grealish takes a long ball under control on the left and tries to cut his pass back for Gundogan. The German turns his man but can't find the space to get his ...

Man City close the gap on leaders Arsenal after three first-half goals in another Premier League win.

Manchester City will be looking to maintain their Premier League title challenge this weekend as they host Aston Villa.

1/1 - 8/11 1/1 - 68/100 1/2 - 6/4 12/1 11/1 11/2

Manchester City beat Aston Villa in their first game since being accused of more than 100 rule breaches by the Premier League.

Assisted by Ollie Watkins with a headed pass following a set piece situation. - Corners - Away2 - Home9 - Away6 - Home17 - Shots - Away33% - Home67% - Possession - 53,392 The noisy atmosphere certainly helped.

MBM report: Manchester City end a bruising week by welcoming Aston Villa to the Etihad. Join Rob Smyth for updates.

It’s been a long time because he was injured after the World Cup and it wasn’t easy to recover. He opens his body to slide a left-footed shot that hits the outstretched right leg of Martinez and goes just wide of the far post. Rodri plays a one-two with De Bruyne, marches through midfield and eases a through ball into the path of Gundogan. Unai Emery makes one change for the Villa side that was plugged 4-2 at home to Leicester last weekend. “How else would fans react to the anthem of a league that told the press about these charges before the club? 6 min “I see from the picture that Mr. De Bruyne drove the corner flat and hard to Grealish, lurking on the edge of the area at the far post. De Bruyne gets to the byline and tries to cut the ball back to Haaland. 27 min De Bruyne’s deep free-kick is headed into a dangerous area by the backpedalling Ramsey. Mahrez’s outswinging corner brushes the head of Dias at the near post and ricochets around the area until Haaland volleys over from six yards. The referee allows play to continue, and replays show that, while it was a very strong challenge, it wasn’t a dangerous one. 30 min Rodri, who has been outstanding, releases De Bruyne on the right with a lovely first-time pass.

Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, and Riyad Mahrez all scored as Manchester City opened the door to the Premier League throne room with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa.

All of the focus will be on Arsenal and how they respond to that home defeat, their first of the season, to Manchester City. With the first real attack of the game Villa lead. What a first half at Villa Park. HALF TIME: Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal. Arsenal cranking up the pressure now. So close to a stunning goal for Villa as Bailey did so well to control, run and spank an effort at goal. In the first half we did the simple things wrong and in the second half we raised our individual level and did the simple things right. 3 of Casemiro’s three-game suspension for the red card he received in the Man United victory over Crystal Palace two weeks ago, with the Red Devils just a win away from taking 7 of 9 points during the Brazilian’s ban — not small feat given his considerable impact since arriving from Real Madrid in the summer. Manchester United have lost just once (to Arsenal) in their last 10 Premier League games (7W-2D-1L), and they have Marcus Rashford’s red-hot form to thank for that. The Hammers have a bit of momentum amid a three-game unbeaten run (victory over Everton, followed by back-to-back draws with Newcastle and Chelsea), though they are winless in their last four trips to north London (0W-1D-3L). West Ham (20 points – 18th place), meanwhile, find themselves in the relegation zone after winning just one of their last 10 PL games (1W-3D-6L). Unai Emery’s Villa was well-prepared and it just didn’t matter in the long run.

Report and free match highlights as Man City beat Aston Villa to move within three points of leaders Arsenal; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Ollie ...

"We need to show we are better than them," he said of Wednesday's game in his post-match interview with Sky Sports. "I can only say sorry to the supporters but we continue in our way. Erling Haaland tends to dominate the headlines with Manchester City and that is sure to continue following his early withdrawal on Sunday. It was Rodri, of course, who scored City's stoppage-time winner in their last visit to the Emirates Stadium. "His presence is really good, he just has to take a look a little bit more when we have pressure on the ball. We want to show our supporters a good performance." Pep Guardiola's starting line-up had many wondering whether the Spaniard might be drafted into defence before kick-off but in truth he is too influential for that. When the opponent has a high line, we need to find him a bit more. We will see and assess in the next days. But the victory was much needed after the 1-0 loss to Tottenham and gives the defending champions the opportunity to go back to the top of the pile on Wednesday. They were also clinical but the mistakes were ours today. "We didn't want to take a risk.