Manchester : A controversial goal by Bernando Silva helped Manchester City earn a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday (20 January). It was a hard fought win for Pep Guardiola’s men as both sides had chances to win this match, but City made a string of misses.
Rodri came back from an offside position to lay off Silva, who fired in from just outside the box to give his team the lead and score his first goal of the season. Although the goal was allowed as it was seen that Villa defender Tyrone Mings had chested the ball into Rodri’s path.
The Spain international was allowed to interfere with play. Villa’s manager Dean Smith was shown a red card for his protests. City doubled their lead in stoppage time through Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty.
“I had the feeling we controlled the game,” said Guardiola after the match. “The top four players they have, player like Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley, the feeling is that wow, you feel the dangers in every actions.
“We arrived at the byline many times but could not score the goal but Bernando Silva was there and his goal made the difference.
“We struggled against Brighton in the last game – they are one of the best teams for creating chances, so it has been hard for us. Maybe they are not clinical but they are good.
“It was 5-7 minutes where Aston Villa had two or three chances. When they can run with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Jack Grealish, Ross Barkley but we make actions and control the passes.”
