The leaders, who had John Stones sent off in the first half,
jumped 11 points clear and need eight points from five games to reclaim the
trophy from Liverpool after goals from the exceptional Phil Foden and Rodri
turned the game at Villa Park.
John McGinn’s opener after 20 seconds stunned the visitors
but they recovered to win after their ill-fated entry and quick withdrawal from
the controversial Super League this week.
They held on after Stones was sent off for a late challenge
on Jacob Ramsey, ruling the City defender out of Sunday’s English League Cup
final against Tottenham at Wembley.
Matt Cash was also red-carded after two quickfire yellow
cards in the second half for fouls on Foden to ease any fears of a Villa
comeback.
Villa remains in 11th place with its European hopes slipping
away.
City was caught cold in the first minute by Tyrone Mings’
long ball forward which a stretching Stones failed to cut out.
It fell to Ollie Watkins and the striker crossed for McGinn,
arriving ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko, to sweep in from 10 meters. It was
Villa’s fastest Premier League goal for 26 years.
The hosts had not played for 11 days — in that time City had
a grueling Champions League quarterfinal win at Dortmund and an FA Cup
semifinal loss to Chelsea.
Yet, with Guardiola making eight changes to freshen his
team, City gradually began to dominate and Riyad Mahrez tested Emi Martinez
after 20 minutes.
It served as a warning as City leveled two minutes later
following a terrific flowing move.
Goalkeeper Ederson began from the back, picking out
Zinchenko with a 50-yard pass and he knocked it off to Foden.
The England midfielder found Mahrez on the right and
continued his run into the area where Bernardo Silva, after being slipped in by
Mahrez, found him to fire a volley past Martinez.
City continued to press with the game almost exclusively
played in Villa’s half and Mahrez had a free kick deflect over.
Villa’s concentration levels could only keep City at bay for
so long and the visitors broke through again five minutes before the break.
Foden’s corner was only half-cleared, Ilkay Gundogan and
Mahrez kept the ball alive, and Rodri glanced into the corner after Martinez
failed to beat him to Silva’s cross.
City looked on course to cruise to another three points but,
just four minutes later, Stones was dismissed.
He went for a bouncing ball just inside the City half and
clattered into Ramsey, with referee Peter Bankes initially giving the defender
a yellow card.
VAR intervened, though, and once Bankes checked his monitor,
he reversed his decision to show Stones a straight red — in front of watching
England coach Gareth Southgate.
It was late rather than malicious and the decision left
Guardiola fuming, but Cash leveled the numbers up after 56 minutes.
It was rash from the right-back, who had been booked for a
foul on Foden just two minutes before, when he chopped down the midfielder
again after losing the ball.
The red played into City’s players' hands and they were
happy to control the pace without leaving themselves stretched.
Gundogan flashed a free kick over with 14 minutes left and
City saw out the game with ease.
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