Sunday 26 April 2015 11:22, UK
After Manchester City scraped a 3-2 win over relegation battlers Aston Villa, we reflect on some of the top talking points from the Etihad Stadium.
Sergio Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov put City two goals up, but Villa battled back through strikes from Tom Cleverley and Carlos Sanchez in a thrilling second half.
And after the visitors were denied a late penalty, Fernandinho popped up with a winning goal in the 89th minute to rescue three points for the champions.
Benteke offside call
Tim Sherwood cut a frustrated figure in his post-match interview as he reflected on the incorrect offside call against Christian Benteke just moments before City's late winner. The Belgium striker was through on goal and tripped by Joe Hart, only for the linesman to raise his flag against the Villans.
"We showed a lot of character, bounced back and got the goals, but one of the decisions has cost us," said Sherwood. "You don't need me to tell you. It's blatant. It's a red card and a penalty."
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp agreed. "I think the linesman makes a really poor call," he said. “We want to see the benefit [of doubt] given to the forwards. These are big moments in games."
City midfielder Fernandinho was celebrating his winning goal just 60 seconds later, but it could have been a very different outcome .
Guzan blunder costs Villa... and Hart also struggles
It wasn't a good day for goalkeepers at the Etihad. Villa got off to the worst possible start as Brad Guzan’s disastrous error gifted Sergio Aguero the opening goal after just three minutes, while Joe Hart also endured a torrid afternoon.
Redknapp was baffled by Guzan’s error and felt Villa paid the price for continuously losing possession in their own half and failing to clear their lines in the opening minutes.
“I think it’s a scandalous goal to concede from Aston Villa’s point of view," said Redknapp. "They became obsessed with giving the ball back to Brad Guzan.
"The amount of times they put themselves under pressure was just incredible. Why he tried to pass that ball across his goal, I’ll never know."
This was Guzan’s 108th consecutive Premier League appearance, but it is not the first time a mistake of his has been punished. The early blunder was his fourth error leading to a goal this season.
At the other end, Hart fared little better. The England goalkeeper flapped at aerial balls for both of Villa’s strikes and is now equal to Guzan for errors leading to goals in 2014/15.
Unlucky Villa
"They have dominated this game. They don’t deserve what they’ve got." That was Stiliyan Petrov's assessment of his former club’s performance in the Sky Sports studio, and it was hard to disagree.
After a nightmare start, Villa responded with another bold, adventurous performance under new boss Tim Sherwood. City have averaged 60.5 per cent possession in the Premier League this season, but they were outpassed by the visitors, who became the first team in six-and-a-half years to have the majority of the possession at the Etihad.
Fernandinho's late winner keeps Villa just two points clear of the drop zone with four games remaining, but Sherwood is confident of survival.
“You’ve got to look for positives and the positive is that we have come here and we weren’t fazed," he said. "If we play like we did there and we tighten up defensively, it’s going to be a relegation battle we’re not a part of.”
With three of their remaining four games taking place at Villa Park, it is easy to understand why Sherwood feels so optimistic.
Defensive lapses
Despite the pivotal offside call, Villa were ultimately the architects of their own downfall. The first goal was bad, but the second wasn’t much better as Kolarov fired his free kick straight through a gaping gap in the wall.
Petrov blamed Richardson for failing to get closer to Leandro Bacuna on the end of the wall. "Even if Richardson is thinking they are going to play it short, his starting position could be from the wall. He doesn’t need to leave that gap, especially for Kolarov," he said.
Redknapp, meanwhile, grimaced at the sight of Bacuna jumping out of the way of Kolarov’s strike. “I can’t believe that he would do this,” he said, “You’ve let your team down here. You’ve got to take it, no matter what happens, even if it’s in the face. It’s horrible.”
The third goal was also a consequence of poor defending, but Petrov is confident Sherwood will tighten them up at the back.
“He’s been working on the defensive side of the game since day one,” said Petrov. “He knows where they are weak and he will definitely try to sort them out.”
City struggles
Pellegrini talked up City’s spirit after the defeat, but he also accepted that they were a long way from their best.
“It was one of our worst games of the season in possession,” he said in his post-match interview. “We lost so many balls during the game so it was easy for Aston Villa to have possession of the ball. We didn’t play so well but we have spirit to try to fight, including in the last five minutes.”
“I was not satisfied with the way we played but I think sometimes you have other things that make you win important games.”
The win moved City into second place above Manchester United and Arsenal, and Redknapp felt the three points was more important than the performance.
“It wasn’t a vintage performance but this is a difficult time of the year. It’s about grinding out results. It was just a matter of getting the three points.”
