Manchester City scored a dramatic late winner against Aston Villa to boost their hopes of Champions League football next season, but Pep Guardiola says it’s been a “bad” season for the club
Pep Guardiola offered a surprise reaction to Manchester City’s stoppage-time win over Aston Villa, suggesting they followed in Liverpool’s footsteps by claiming the late victory. Matheus Nunes converted the cross of substitute Jeremy Doku to secure a vital three points in the race for a spot in the top five.
Nunes scored a 94th-minute winner to put City in the driving seat for Champions League contention ahead of Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Chelsea and Villa. And Guardiola was in disbelief as he hoped to avoid defeat as the game entered its latter stages.
The home side had taken the lead through Bernardo Silva, before Marcus Rashford levelled the score with a controversial penalty. But it was Nunes that left an overwhelmed Guardiola pumping his fist as they earned a dramatic win.
However, the Catalan coach also provided a dose of reality, as he reminded his team the joy in this moment does not come close to making up for what has been a dreadful season.
“We are not used to it!” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “The last minute win belongs to Liverpool.
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“We are not used to it so I am really happy. We are in the last four games, we know Champions League contenders like Aston Villa, they are one of the top teams in Europe.
“We played very good. Aggressive in our duels and back four were unbelievable. Really pleased.
“Football is emotion. The last two games were so difficult so we are really pleased. I was so happy. I have to admit it! Try to not lose as 1-1 was not a bad result but the action from Jeremy [Doku] was so good.
“The team fought a lot. The performance was really good. It is a fantastic team. The season has been bad. It doesn’t matter about the final or if we finish in Champions League.
“What makes you feel good is the Premier League. It happened and sometimes you have bad seasons. Liverpool will be champions and the level of teams is outstanding.”
Defender Ruben Dias commented on the importance of the victory over their Premier League rivals. The Portuguese star noted that securing Champions League football is of greater importance than the FA Cup.
Dias said: “They are on the run to the top five with us. Special game to get three points. Four games to go and all of them will be massively important. We keep on going.
“We know how tight it is and how tight it will be until the end. I can’t quantify how important today was.
“This means everything to us. We know exactly what circumstances we are in, top four or five means everything. This is our main trophy. We have the FA Cup and Club World Cup but this is everything to us.”
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