Manchester City 3-1 Aston Villa: Roberto Mancini’s men fight back to end Villans' Champions League hopes

Tevez, Adebayor and Bellamy cancel out Carew’s opener…

Aston Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League look to be over after Manchester City ran out 3-1 winners at Eastlands on Saturday to further stake their claim for a top-four spot.

John Carew opened the scoring for visitors before Carlos Tevez’s equaliser from the penalty spot was followed up by a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor a minute later and a Craig Bellamy strike late on.

Manchester City made two changes from their goalless draw away to Arsenal last week. Given missed out with a shoulder injury and will not return until next season, so emergency loan signing Fulop was in goal, while Adebayor recovered from a thigh problem to partner Tevez up front in the place of Barry, who missed out with a hamstring injury.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill picked up the Manager of the Month award for April after guiding his side to four wins and a draw and he was able to name the same starting line-up for the sixth successive game, with Carew again preferred to Heskey in attack.

Villa have one of the best defensive records in the Premier League and that has for the most part been down to the purchases of Dunne and Collins at the start of the season. The latter made an impact in the opening minutes, cutting out Johnson’s dangerous cross from the right before holding off the challenge of Bellamy to allow the ball to run out of play when his international team-mate could have been through on goal.

O’Neill’s men went into the game in good goalscoring form and they had two chances to open the scoring after six minutes. Agbonlahor found Downing on the left wing and his in-swinging cross seemed certain to find Carew but Kompany headed away and as Carew attempted to latch onto the rebound, Toure sharply intercepted before clearing the danger.

Manchester City had the first clear-cut chance of the match with Bellamy causing chaos. The Welshman raced down the left wing after playing a one-two with Vieira and he jinked past Cuellar before having his deflected cross excellently palmed over the crossbar for a corner by Friedel.

There was much talk in the days leading up to the match surrounding emergency loan signing Fulop from Sunderland and the Hungarian made the worst possible start on his City debut. Downing played a through ball into the path of Carew and his low strike from the right side of the area somehow managed to squirm underneath the body of Fulop to give the visitors the lead.

City responded well and almost grabbed the equaliser just two minutes later. Bellamy continued to cause problems and whipped in an excellent cross from the left towards Adebayor at the far post but Friedel made another brilliant save, tipping the ball over the bar at full stretch.

Aston Villa’s 7-1 defeat to Chelsea in March was their only loss in their last 16 league games heading into the clash at Eastlands, while City’s debutant goalkeeper Fulop had not played since conceding seven against Carlo Ancelotti’s side earlier in the season, and he was involved again as the half hour mark approached. The Hungarian fumbled Milner’s fierce shot before eventually claiming the ball to avoid making another calamitous error on his debut.

Carew has been a major part of Aston Villa’s success in recent weeks and he almost provided another goal for the visitors soon after. The Norwegian did well to hold the ball up on the edge of the area before playing in Agbonlahor, who laid the ball off to Downing. The former Middlesbrough winger then struck first-time but saw his fierce effort flash just wide of the post.

City went straight up the other end of the pitch and had claims for a penalty turned down. Tevez broke on the counter-attack and attempted to drive the ball across goal but his cut back cannoned off the arm of Warnock and looked as though they had earned a penalty, only for referee Mark Clattenburg to claim it was ball to hand.

Just minutes later, Warnock was involved again, conceding a penalty for a foul on Johnson. The City winger looked to skip past Warnock but was brought down with a late challenge to earn a penalty. Tevez stepped up and smashed the ball straight down the middle of the goal, with Friedel almost getting a touch to it, to score the equaliser.

Calamity | Fulop had a debut to forget

Almost straight from the kick-off, Aston Villa nearly took the lead again through Carew. The scorer of Villa’s first goal was played through just inside the area and saw his shot beat Fulop in the City goal, but cannon back off the crossbar, much to the relief of the home crowd.

Despite Villa’s response, it was Roberto Mancini’s men who were to take the lead just a minute after scoring the equaliser. Vieira picked out Johnson on the right and he drilled the ball across the face of goal to Adebayor, who poked the ball home from six yards out to score his 14th goal of the season.

Fulop had already had two dodgy moments in the first half and he flapped at another cross on the stroke of half-time. Ashley Young’s cross from the left proved too much for the Hungarian to deal with and he could only palm the ball down to the ground straight to Agbonlahor, but luckily for the on-loan keeper, Bellamy was there to smash the ball clear.

Dunne left the City of Manchester in the summer and he was welcomed back to the club where he gave nine years service. The former City captain stormed forward from defence after dispossessing Tevez but was quickly closed down as he approached the area, earning a generous applause from the home crowd.

After a poor showing in the first half from Fulop, all eyes were on the on-loan goalkeeper after the break. The Hungarian palmed Ashley Young’s cross behind for a corner five minutes into the half and after that, earned a round of applause from the City fans every time he touched the ball.

Bellamy had a good first half, causing problems down the left wing and the Welshman would have played Tevez through on goal had it not been for Cuellar. The former Liverpool striker received a pass from Adebayor on the left wing but could only pass the ball against the legs of Cuellar with Tevez in space ahead of him.

Downing has been a regular in the Villa line-up since returning from injury in November and he almost provided his side with the equaliser. The England international curled a left-footed cross into the area from the right wing and Ashley Young looked certain to turn the ball in but couldn’t connect with his header at the far post.

City had the majority of possession throughout the game and almost extended their lead through Bellamy after 66 minutes. The Welshman cut inside from the left wing past Cuellar before curling an excellent strike at goal but Friedel was equal to it and was able to beat the ball away.

Manchester City had a chance to go further in front when Bellamy’s corner almost found Adebayor but Cuellar was there to head the ball away at the near post, while minutes later, Martin O’Neill felt the need for change, bringing on Delfouneso and Heskey for Warnock and Carew.

Roberto Mancini then responded with a change of his own, taking off Johnson with Wright-Phillips taking his place on the right wing, and straight after the substitution Villa had a chance to score but Dunne’s glancing header from 10 yards out was easily claimed by Fulop.

Delfouneso came off the bench to grab a late winner against Portsmouth two weeks ago and he came close to scoring his second Premier League goal with ten minutes left on the clock. Ashley Young whipped in an inviting cross from the right towards the youngster at the near post but Zabaleta did well to get in front of him to head the ball away.

Seconds after Delfouneso’s chance, City broke on the counter attack and had chances through Adebayor and Tevez. The latter picked out the Togo international but his shot blocked before the ball fell back to the scorer of City’s first goal. He then stuck at goal but had his shot quickly closed down in a crowded penalty area.

Ashley Young had a very good game for Aston Villa and could have provided his side with two assists late on. His second excellent cross to Delfouneso was blocked by Zabaleta again before another cross into the area was headed away by Toure as Collins looked to equalise.

Bellamy had chances to score throghout the match and grabbed Manchester City’s third goal in the 88th minute. Wright-Phillips was the architect, brilliantly dribbling past two Villa defenders setting up the Welshman to coolly blast the ball into the top corner, bringing an end to an incident-packed game that leaves City with a great chance of qualifying for the Champions League.