Pep Guardiola said he was “really happy” after Matheus Nunes’s winner in added time gave Manchester City a crucial win against Aston Villa in the race for Champions League qualification.
Victory lifts the champions to third place on 61 points, four ahead of Chelsea in sixth, with four games left. A top-five finish will secure European Cup football.
Guardiola said: “I’m really happy. We’re in the last [top] four for the last four games and a Champions League contender for qualification. If we win the next four games, the win will have been so important.
“You don’t have to be scientists to realise that we play against Aston Villa, one of the best teams as you saw against Newcastle and PSG. An extraordinary team, but we performed as we did in the past with commitment.”
City next face Nottingham Forest in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday. Guardiola said: “Qualification for the Champions League of course is important but we have to be calm and focus on the semi‑final, and after that we have days to prepare the four finals. Two games at home, two away and game by game.”
City’s last matches are Wolves at home, Southampton (away), Bournemouth (home) and Fulham (away). Guardiola praised Nunes and Nico O’Reilly, who again played out of position at right-back and left-back respectively. “If you tell me at the beginning of the season that at the end of the season you are fighting for the FA Cup final or to qualify for the Champions League with Matheus and Nico at full-back, I’d say: what are you talking about,” the manager said.
Villa are seventh, two behind Newcastle in fifth. “We lost but still have matches to play,” the manager, Unai Emery, said. “We still have chances to get Champions League football.”
Villa next play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday. “We have to focus on the match in London,” Emery said.
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Bernardo Silva opened the scoring before Marcus Rashford equalised with a penalty ahead of Nunes’s 94th‑minute winner.
Of Rashford, on-loan from Manchester United, Emery said: “I am so, so happy with him, he is performing very well, his adaptation has been quick and his commitment with the process has been really important.”