Premier League - City cruise past Villa

Eurosport - Thu, 05 Mar 10:31:00 2009

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-0 in the Premier League thanks to an Elano penalty and an 89th minute goal from Shaun Wright-Phillips.

FOOTBALL Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game against Aston Villa in the Premier League. - 0

Elano's 23rd minute spot kick came after James Milner tripped Wright-Phillips as the winger closed on goal, and was just reward for a first half dominated by the home side.

Though Villa came back strongly at the beginning of the second half, City soon plugged their defensive gaps and began to hit on the counter, with a series of chances culminating in Wright-Phillips finding the net just before the end of the match.

What pressure was on Mark Hughes's shoulders before Christmas will all but have evaporated as his side climbed to eighth place in the league, while Villa's miserable loss of form continues.

With both sides keen to turn around recent patchy form it was no surprise that the match began at a high tempo, yet it was always the home side that made the majority of the running.

Chief tormentors were Pablo Zabaleta and Wright-Phillips, working up and down the right flank to provide chances for the ever-lively Stephen Ireland, while Brazilian midfielder Elano was always a threat.

On 10 minutes Ireland made a great chance for himself, picking up the ball on the right before cutting in to the box and earning time to either shoot or pass.

But the midfielder - who was playing so far forward as to effectively be a second striker - got caught between his options, eventually firing the ball to the left for an easy save by Brad Friedel.

City kept on pressing hard, and for all Villa's defensive skill it seemed that eventually the hosts would find a way through. On 22 minutes it very nearly came as Zabaleta's lovely ball in from the right was perfectly timed to give Wright-Phillips a free shot on goal.

But the winger - who was in generally excellent form throughout the match - paused too long, and pulled the ball well to the left when it would have seemed easier to bury the ball into the net.

Just 60 seconds later, however, he made up for the blunder by winning a penalty when going down under mild contact from James Milner.

Replays suggested that there was indeed contact, and with Milner chasing down Wright-Phillips from behind there was little option for the referee. Elano converted the spot kick for a 1-0 lead that was richly deserved on the run of play.

The goal only seemed to strengthen City's determination to attack, and the home side almost added to their lead on the stroke of half-time as Wright-Phillips put in a superb low ball in from the right that missed the outstretched leg of the sliding Ireland by a matter of inches.

Villa went in to half-time looking miserable - but from the look of the teams when the action restarted, Villa manager Martin O'Neill had clearly given his side a stern talking-to during the break.

The visitors dominated the first quarter of an hour of the second half, with City rarely able to get the ball and unable to hang on to it long when they did.

For all the pressure they put on, however, it was the 59th minute before they enjoyed a chance, with Ashley Young cutting in from the left and shooting well only to see his shot deflect clear from the foot of Wayne Bridge.

The close call seemed to wake City up, prompting a final half-hour of end-to-end football, with Villa pressing hard and their hosts attacking effectively on the break.

And though Villa had more of the ball it was always City whose chances seemed cleanest, and most likely to bear fruit.

Elano's pass on 69 minutes gave Felipe Caicedo a chance at a volley on 69 minutes that drifted just wide; and three minutes later Elano himself volleyed brilliantly, drawing a simply staggering save at full stretch from Brad Friedel to avert what looked a certain goal.

Villa kept pushing at the other end with an Ashley Young rocket on 79 minutes drawing a brilliant punch clear from Shay Given; and the same player beat three men to put in a cross that was just overhit past the attacking force with five minutes to go.

On 88 minutes, however, another City counter-attack saw Ireland give Wright-Phillips a straightforward chance as he ran in to the left-half of the box.

Wright-Phillips finished beautifully to the far corner, earning a goal to cap a fantastic performance and putting the game out of the visitors' reach.

On this form City look more like challenging for a UEFA Cup spot than getting involved in a relegation battle - while Villa have a lot of questions to answer if they are to recapture the football that has seen them challenging for a Champions League spot.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

Comment 34 - 53 of 53

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  1. Top 4 will be the top 4, Everton would have nailed 5th­ but for injuries but will sneak it due to better­ defence than Villa - Villa will be 6th, City 7th,­ Hammers 8th (luck will change), rest a lottery.

    Got to­ say Villa are a very ordinary side - there's only­ Young and Barry worth having really - functional/well­ drilled/play so a system etc and over a season this­ will serve you well, as villa have showed, but they­ just don't have strength in depth - that back 4­ last night was very square and easy to pass through.­ They're also short of a top class goal scorer -­ there's noone in there who will bag 20 a season.

    From Paul F, on Thu 5 Mar 1:26PM

  2. Linda yeah i agree... but city fans would NEVER change­ allegiance, no matter what.... unlike some utd fans i­ personally know, nice comment!.

    From Chris W, on Thu 5 Mar 1:04PM

  3. carpetchoice 101 you have proven that man u have more­ support OUTSIDE manchester for city till i die genuine­ manc born crumpsall.

    From linda.wood17, on Thu 5 Mar 12:50PM

  4. To comment 42, Martin O'neal may be a very ordinary­ manager but Aston Villa are actually managed by a­ superb manager called Martin O'neiil. For­ f@ck's sake, if your gonna slate us at least get­ your spelling right! Plus Arsenal used to have a­ manager called Terry Neill, and loads of Irish players,­ bet u didn't complain about them! Also Villa have­ spent minimal amounts of money in comparison to the so­ called big 4. I would rather wait and see what will­ happen in the run in to the end of the season, bearing­ in mind Villa have 2 or 3 top players coming back.

    From tj.whelan, on Thu 5 Mar 10:53AM

  5. arsenal have been struggling this season due mainly to­ injuries to half of wengers 1st choice players. yet­ they are still only 3pts away from the villa. dont­ forget that arsenal have not lost a game since mid­ november, even though they have had to put out mainly­ fringe players. still in the F.A cup, still in with a­ good chance of CHAMPIONS LEAGUE quarter finals and now­ a spit away from catching villa up. ASTON VILLA are an­ ordinary side. a long way away from prolonged succsess.­ loss of form is temporary, CLASS is permanent. enjoy­ another season in the uefa cup next year. thats about­ all the villa are good for, and watch the ARSENAL­ outclass you again . GOONER FOR LIFE.

    From Phillip, on Thu 5 Mar 10:33AM

  6. Apart from Man United it is actually Fulham who­ had/have the best Home record.

    From james b, on Thu 5 Mar 10:32AM

  7. As a united supporter i really wish we had a stadium in­ Manchester im sick of going to games an hearing cockney­ accents everywere.I can feel myself turning Bluer every­ season
    hope it does`nt last but united just not the­ same since the americans got us

    From Malc, on Thu 5 Mar 10:31AM

  8. COME ON CITY!!!!!

    From Karl, on Thu 5 Mar 10:25AM

  9. Villians are just another top four wonna be with an­­ over inflated ego, they should seek advice from­­ Tottenham where their quest for top four left them­ this­ time next season they will be happy to be even­ involve­ in a relegation dog fight ha!!!!!!!!

    From c, on Thu 5 Mar 10:23AM

  10. TO ALL BIG MOUTH GOONERS: you are reading too much into­ 2 things

    1. villa's loss to city - not only are­ they our bogey team,apart from man utd they have the­ best home record in the league( i seem to remember them­ stuffing you lot 3-0 earlier this season!)

    2. your win­ over west brom - they're bottom of the league for­ f**k sake! and your five games before were all draws,­ four of which being 0-0! one win in 6 games is hardly­ champions league form

    From lee_jacobs1985, on Thu 5 Mar 10:22AM

  11. TO ALL BIG MOUTH GOONERS:

    From lee_jacobs1985, on Thu 5 Mar 10:16AM

  12. why is villa seriously fighting for a eufa champions­ league place when they will turn round to complain of­ fixture congestion and therefore field a weaken team.i­ might be wrong ,maybe they intend doubling their squad­ after qualifying which i doubt.

    From valach, on Thu 5 Mar 10:15AM

  13. @
    @
    @
    @
    @
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    @ I discovered a hot place

    ------­ SeeKaMillionaire Co m------ where many sexy singles-­ who like sports and-- chatting there. I'm an open-­ minded girl from US, I-- am Waiting 4 u

    From Tracy W, on Thu 5 Mar 10:04AM

  14. these are the Arsenal idiots who booed there team off­ after yet another 0-0 against Sunderland. You only beat­ Albion so don't shout from your cockney rooftops­ yet. And apart from Chelski we have a decent record­ against the top teams this season. It's hardly a­ crisis.

    From villaboy, on Thu 5 Mar 9:23AM

  15. There is too much nonsense been said about Martin­ O'Neal, he's just an average manager, he's­ tactics are all wrong in a lot of games, he doesn't­ use his subs at all, and in a lot of their games they­ have have been second best but lucky to win, too much­ of the long ball rubbish. What helps O'Neal with­ the pundits and critics, is that he's Irish and not­ foreign and a lot of their players are British, and God­ forbid if the pundits there to critise our­ British/Irish guys as they always do with the­ foreigners only. Aston Villa have also spent lots of­ money on players.

    From frankwood42, on Thu 5 Mar 9:22AM

  16. Villa can't match the top 4 or 5, they have only­ played the majority of the bottom teams, when they have­ played a top side they struggle, maybe UEFA cup place a­ possability.

    From J W, on Thu 5 Mar 8:32AM

  17. you4death2000...The Gunners are coming for you to­ reclaim their rightful spot in the Champions League for­ the 14th year running. You're cracking mate and you­ don't like it. Fair enough, can't feel very­ nice I guess. UEFA at best for your pretenders. x

    From RichardG, on Thu 5 Mar 7:54AM

  18. Bellamy and Robhino left out and they play like tigers­ ? I wish they could do it away as well. Cockney­ Manchester United coming up soon, should be interesting

    From goff, on Thu 5 Mar 6:06AM

  19. hereee come the arsenal. villa get ready for the uefa­ or less hahahahaha

    From scumyspurs, on Thu 5 Mar 5:57AM

  20. There goes the Man U job Martin!

    From M H, on Thu 5 Mar 1:46AM
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