Man City vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Riyad Mahrez penalty wraps up win
Man City 3-1 Aston Villa: The hosts were dominant as goals from Rodri, Gundogan and Mahrez saw the champions close the gap to three points of Arsenal
Manchester City produced a defiant response to the Premier League’s charge sheet as they comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-1 to close to within three points of leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
Goals by Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez put the result beyond doubt by halftime as City got back on track following last weekend’s loss at Tottenham Hotspur.
With the club facing more than 100 charges relating to alleged financial misconduct the home fans were in belligerent mood at the Etihad Stadium with a series of ironic chants.
Pep Guardiola’s side needed only four minutes to take the lead when Rodri headed in Riyad Mahrez’s corner and they were cruising when Erling Haaland set up Gundogan in the 39th minute.
Villa were left with mission impossible when Mahrez tucked away a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Jacob Ramsey was adjudged to have tripped former Villa player Jack Grealish.
Ollie Watkins scored for the third successive league match to reduce the deficit on the hour mark and Villa also struck the woodwork through substitute Jhon Duran late on but City never looked in any real danger of dropping points.
.Earlier, late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho earned Manchester United a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Leeds. It meant United leap-frogged City into second place, but the Premier League champions then responded.
Will Man Utd win at Elland Road?
Manchester United have won just one of their last four Premier League matches - with two draws and one defeat - having won each of the previous four.
But, United are just one short of their total of six away league victories last season.
An unwanted record
Leeds could equal their club record of nine Premier League games without a win in the same season, set in 1997. They have won just two of their last 18 league matches with six draws and 10 defeats.
Leeds vs Man Utd
Throughout the weekend the Premier League clubs have had their players wear black armbands to raise awareness and funds for the people affected by the Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Today is no different with both sets of players set to sport the armbands at Elland Road.
Leeds vs Man Utd team changes
Leeds make two changes to the team that drew with Man Utd last time out. Pascal Struijk drops out with concussion so is replaced by Junior Firpo whilst Crysencio Summerville comes into midfield to replace Luis Sinisterra.
Erik ten Hag swaps out three players from the midweek starting XI as Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Alejandro Garnacho all drop out.
In come Tyrell Malacia and captain Harry Maguire whilst Jadon Sancho’s equaliser on Wednesday has earned him a starting place.
Leeds vs Man Utd line-ups
Leeds XI: Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Wober, Firpo, Adams, McKennie, Summerville, Harrison, Gnonto, Bamford
Man Utd XI: De Gea, Dalot, Maguire, Shaw, Malacia, Fred, Sabitzer, Rashford, Fernandes, Sancho, Weghorst
Pre-match thoughts from Michael Skubala
Following the sacking of Jesse Marsch, Leeds will continue with the temporary trio of Michael Skubala, Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo to take charge of this afternoon’s game.
Skubala has been given the media duties and told the press: “We have to go into this game as a fresh game and think about in a fresh way.
“Whatever happened in the last game for me is now closed, the books closed and we go again Sunday and we try and get three points.”
Ten Hag on Garnacho
Erik ten Hag spoke in the build-up to today’s match about the development of youngster Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentine has impressed since breaking into the first team but struggled against Leeds at Old Trafford.
“I think he is doing quite well, he is having an impact. I think he is a threat as we saw, he had good actions, he was lively, he created great chances but he had to score.” said Ten Hag when assessing Garnacho’s performance.
“Finally it is about that, that you have an effect. As a striker, you have to be on that list, the scoring list, the assist list, the key action list. Of course, we expect the other stuff, the base stuff is also important if you can’t do the extra, you have to do that.
“That is your base function, but as a Man United player we expect you to have an impact, to influence the score, the result, to have a positive influence on the game by scoring goals and having assists.”
Pep Guardiola accuses other clubs of jealousy towards Man City
Pep Guardiola has insisted that no-one can take away the trophies that Manchester City won as he claimed the Premier League’s case against the champions is built on the jealousy of rival clubs.
City were hit with over 100 charges of financial rules on Monday and potential punishments could involve them being stripped of their titles.
But Guardiola is adamant no-one can take away their memories or their achievements. City have won six Premier Leagues, four of them under Guardiola, and the charges relate to events between 2009 and 2018.
Guardiola, who has vowed not to let the club down and said he is more determined than ever to stay, accepts some people will feel their titles are tainted.
Pep Guardiola accuses other clubs of jealousy towards Man City
City have been charged with over 100 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules
Man City vs Aston Villa early team news and predicted line-ups
John Stones remains out for Man City but Phil Foden is nearing a return. Aston Villa have no injury absences with Bertrand Traore back in training too.
Man City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Ake; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Ramsey, Kamara, Luiz, Beundia; Watkins, Bailey
How to watch Man City vs Aston Villa
It will kick off at 4:30pm GMT on Sunday 12 February.
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage following the clash between Manchester United and Leeds United at 2pm.
If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
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