Manchester City v Aston Villa (2024-25)

General

Players

Manchester City v Aston Villa (2024–25)

Manchester City Aston Villa 2 1
HT:1–1 Report
Event	Premier League 2024-25
Date	Tuesday 22 April 2025
Venue	Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Player of the Match	Kevin De Bruyne
Referee	Craig Pawson
Weather	14 °C (57 °F)
← Man City - Everton Aston Villa - Newcastle Man City - Nottm Forest Aston Villa - Palace →

Manchester City v Aston Villa was a match which took place at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday 22 April 2025. The match will be shown live on at 8:00pm BST.

Team News

Manchester City

Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson could miss a second successive game because of the apparent groin problem that prompted his substitution against Crystal Palace.

Fit-again defender Manuel Akanji made his first appearance since 11 February with a late cameo as a substitute on Saturday.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is again expected to rotate his squad, with this weekend's FA Cup semi-final in mind.

The likes of Marcus Rashford, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey could all come back into the side.

Match facts

Head-to-head

• Manchester City have won their past 14 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, scoring at least twice in each of the most recent 13. Their last home defeat in this fixture came on 28 April 2007.
• City have trailed in just two of those 14 matches, going 1-0 down in May 2010 and 2-0 down in May 2022 before winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.
• However, Aston Villa won this season's reverse fixture in December and are looking to complete their first league double over City since 1962-63.

Manchester City

• Manchester City have scored 36 goals in 11 home matches in all competitions in 2025, scoring at least twice in 10 of those. City's goals-per-game average of 3.27 is their fourth best in a calendar year.
• Pep Guardiola's side are unbeaten in five Premier League fixtures, winning three and drawing two.
• They are on a run of nine successive home league victories in the month of April, scoring 35 goals and conceding eight.
• However, City have conceded 21 league goals at home this season. They have not had a worse defensive record at home since 2003-04, when they let in 24.
• Omar Marmoush has six goals in his six Premier League home appearances for Manchester City.
• Nico O'Reilly has been involved in six goals across his last six outings in all competitions, scoring four and providing two assists.

Aston Villa

• Unai Emery's side have won 10 of their past 11 matches in all competitions, with the exception being a defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
• Villa have won five consecutive Premier League fixtures for the first time since April 2023. They have never won six in a row in the competition.
• They've also earned three straight away league victories without conceding a goal. Villa haven't won four successive top-flight away games since 2008-09, while they've never done so while keeping a clean sheet each time.
• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League matches played in the month of April (W6, D2).
• Villa substitutes have scored 11 Premier League goals for the second successive season. Their previous best was eight.
• Ollie Watkins scored his 74th Premier League goal for Aston Villa on Saturday, equalling the club record set by Gabby Agbonlahor.
• Watkins is the first Villa player to score 15 goals or more in three consecutive Premier League seasons.
• Youri Tielemans has a goal or assist in each of his last five games in all competitions, while Morgan Rogers has five goal involvements in his past four appearances.

Match Report

Matheus Nunes struck in stoppage time to give Manchester City a priceless victory over fellow top-five contenders Aston Villa in the battle for a Champions League spot.

What could be a preview of next month's FA Cup final looked set to end level as City struggled to find a way through the Villa defence after Marcus Rashford cancelled out Bernardo Silva's early opener from the penalty spot.

But, with their final attack, substitute Jeremy Doku skipped past Axel Disasi down the left, then delivered a brilliant low cross with the outside of his right foot which rolled perfectly through the six-yard box for Nunes, who drilled his first league goal of the season into the bottom corner.

The importance of the goal was shown in the celebrations of manager Pep Guardiola, who hugged Nunes in delight, then made his way round the remainder of his squad before saluting the home fans.

City are now third, four points clear of Villa and Chelsea, who have a game in hand, and remain just outside the top five.

And crucially, while City's run-in includes matches against relegated Southampton and Wolves, Chelsea have to play both Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.

Guardiola's glee at the final whistle was in stark contrast to the fury he was still feeling at the penalty Villa had been awarded when he emerged for the second half.

A replay of Ruben Dias' challenge on Jacob Ramsey was being shown at just the wrong time from Guardiola's perspective as he shook his head angrily, still believing there had been no foul.

Evidently, the City boss was still simmering as the second half ticked on; in his mind, the importance of victory absolutely huge.

There was no other explanation for the manner in which he sunk to his knees in despair as James McAtee delicately lifted the ball over Emiliano Martinez but just wide of the goal as the home side hunted a winner.

It was not supposed to be like that when Bernardo crashed home Omar Marmoush's cut-back after it had flicked off Ezri Konsa.

But this City team are still not the force they once were. The sight of injured duo Erling Haaland and Rodri sat next to each other as they willed their team-mates on underlining the huge gaps that remain in Guardiola's preferred line-up.

It is why, for all he has achieved, securing a place in next season's Champions League will be a significant milestone in Guardiola's managerial career.

It is more than nine years since Rashford first played at the Etihad and scored the only goal to give victory to a Manchester United side managed by Louis van Gaal.

Rashford has achieved so much since then, but this season has been a toil.

The nadir came when United arrived at this stadium without him in December after he had been axed, along with Alejandro Garnacho, by head coach Ruben Amorim for below-par performances in training, in addition to a poor attitude.

While Garnacho was quickly restored to Amorim's squad, Rashford never played again.

The move to Villa has returned him to form, and to the England squad.

His penalty might only have been his fourth Villa goal, two of which came against Championship strugglers Preston in the FA Cup, but he definitely has his mojo back.

Rashford might have scored after no more than 20 seconds. But racing on to Youri Tielemans' pass, he sent Ruben Dias the wrong way to create space, then watched his low shot come back off the post when he thought it was going in.

It was his rapid run that started the attack that led to Dias taking down Ramsey, and a decision so controversial Guardiola was still shaking his head when he saw a replay on the big screen as he took his seat for the second half.

Rashford spurned two more chances to score. One before the break, when he could not beat Stefan Ortega after his pace had carried him into a one-on-one situation with the German goalkeeper. On the second occasion he skipped round Ortega but from an acute angle could only find the side netting.

Predictably, the home fans gave Rashford grief as he was replaced by Ollie Watkins late in the game. His response was to quietly offer his applause to the visiting fans.

Wherever his career takes him next, Rashford is in a far better position than when he should have come here, but did not, with Manchester United four months ago.

Match

Details

22 April 2025 20:00 BST 14 °C (57 °F) live on	Manchester City	2–1	Aston Villa	Etihad Stadium, Manchester Referee: Craig Pawson
	Silva  7' Nunes  90+4'	HT:1–1 Report	Rashford  18' (pen.)

Manchester City

Aston Villa

18 Stefan Ortega 27 Matheus Nunes 77' 03 Rúben Dias 24 Joško Gvardiol 70' 75 Nico O'Reilly 19 İlkay Gündoğan 08 Mateo Kovačić 20 Bernardo Silva 86' 17 Kevin De Bruyne 90+6' 87 James McAtee 74' 07 Omar Marmoush Substitutes: 10 Jack Grealish 11 Jérémy Doku 74' 14 Nico González 25 Manuel Akanji 90+6' 26 Savinho 33 Scott Carson 45 Abdukodir Khusanov 47 Phil Foden 82 Rico Lewis Manager: Pep Guardiola

23 Emiliano Martínez 02 Matty Cash 61' 04 Ezri Konsa 14 Pau Torres 12 Lucas Digne 35' 44 Boubacar Kamara 24 Amadou Onana 76' 27 Morgan Rogers 86' 50' 08 Youri Tielemans 41 Jacob Ramsey 61' 09 Marcus Rashford 76' Substitutes: 03 Axel Disasi 61' 06 Ross Barkley 07 John McGinn 61' 11 Ollie Watkins 76' 85' 16 Andrés García 17 Donyell Malen 86' 21 Marco Asensio 76' 22 Ian Maatsen 25 Robin Olsen Manager: Unai Emery

Man of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne Assistant referees: Nick Hopton Craig Taylor Fourth official: Matt Donohue VAR: John Brooks Assistant VAR: Tim Wood

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time or penalties. Three points awarded to winner, none to loser. One point awarded to each in the event of a draw. Nine named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions

Match Stats

Manchester City	Aston Villa

Possession ball
62%	38%

Shots
14	7

Shots on target
6	3

Corners
10	2

Fouls
9	10

See also

• 2024–25 Premier League: Match day 33

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at Premier League.com

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Aston Villa v Manchester City

Premier League

2019–20 · 2021–22