Pep Guardiola's vintage stars are doing it their way. Manchester City took control in the Champions League race by scoring a last-minute winner at the Etihad to move up into third place in the Premier League with just four games to go.
The roar at the Etihad was hearty, the celebrations on the touchline and on the pitch wild, and the relief vast. City had done it the hard way, but they had done it and will now really fancy their chances of achieving their 'minimum' objective of staying at the top table of European football.
A draw would have been taken by Blues when the team news dropped and many did not feel great about a midfield packed again with exclusively 30-somethings matching one that had monstered them in the reverse fixture. Guardiola has stuck with his golden oldies, or 'legendary players' as he calls them and they are starting to show the results to back it up.
It again wasn't a complete performance, and the warning signs were there inside the opening 20 seconds when Marcus Rashford turned Ruben Dias inside out before seeing his shot come back off the post and straight into the arms of Stefan Ortega, who was lying sprawled on the floor after being beaten by the original effort.
To their credit, the home side put together a move of their own and took the lead in the seventh minute. A crossfield ball from Ruben Dias allowed Omar Marmoush to run inside the box and his cross deflected into the path of Bernardo Silva, who lashed in his first goal since Boxing Day with the help of Emi Martinez fumbling a regulation save into his own goal.
It felt like the tale of City since the international break whether it be Bournemouth, Everton or Palace, dicing with a real problem before recovering to take control. Villa heads went down as they had to cope with falling behind so soon after nearly going ahead.
Instead, a theme that has been familiar to City all season emerged as Matheus Nunes took the ball in a promising position, turned round and leathered the ball backwards towards his own goal and into the path of Marcus Rashford. Dias and Silva could not stop the on-loan United forward and as he pushed the ball into the box Dias could not help but collide with the onrushing Jacob Ramsey.
Referee Craig Pawson did not give a penalty, but he was quickly told to go to the monitor and Rashford scored the equaliser. City were absolutely fuming and Guardiola was booked, with a sense of injustice fuelling the crowd despite the penalty being an obvious decision as soon as there was contact.
Silva took it particularly badly, making a beeline for the officials when the half-time whistle blew and doing the same in the tunnel before the second half started.
It took until the second half for heads to be placed back onto bodies, but City came out the better side. They forced a series of corners to strangle Villa - six in ten minutes - and built on that with their best chances since the goal.
Both fell to James McAtee, back in the side after his goal against Palace on his first league start last week and eager to impress again. The crowd held its collective breath when he latched onto an ingenious through ball from De Bruyne and lobbed Martinez, only for the ball to drop just wide of the post.
Then it was head in hands time as he made the perfect run as Nico O'Reilly swept the ball in but got his timing wrong and saw it bounce off his standing leg instead. Guardiola bounced back from the canvas calling for more of the same from everyone in the stadium as City sensed their opportunity.
It looked to have gone with Villa happy to take a draw, only for substitute Jeremy Doku to play the ball across the box and Nunes to steam in to knock it back across goal and into the net. It had been his error for the Rashford penalty, but it would turn out to be his night.
His teammates ran to congratulate him, and waiting off the pitch was Erling Haaland with a big bearhug. The team spirit has never been lost this season, and it might just get them over the line.
City have had to revise their expectations as the season has gone on, but with four games to go they are where they want to be.
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