I saw Man City youngster get Pep Guardiola hug after showing key attribute

Matheus Nunes' late goal saw Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the Etihad as they moved up to third in the Premier League table.

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Manchester City took a big step towards next season's Champions League after Matheus Nunes' injury-time winner saw them beat top-five rivals Aston Villa at the Etihad.

Marcus Rashford hit the post for Villa inside 20 seconds but it was City who struck first, with Bernardo Silva converting Omar Marmoush's pull-back, although Emi Martinez will think he could have done more to save the shot.

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Villa levelled swiftly. Ruben Dias collided with Jacob Ramsey in the box and although Craig Pawson didn't give the penalty, he was swiftly directed to the screen by VAR John Brooks, much to City's anger. Rashford made no mistake from the spot.

Just when it looked like the points were going to be shared, Jeremy Doku's low cross was converted at the back post by Nunes. Here's the moments you might have missed on a key night.

McAtee's good work

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Guardiola raised both hands above his head to applaud James McAtee after his intelligent pressing won City another corner just before the hour mark.

The Blues had boxed Villa in well all night, with Marmoush and McAtee positioned wide before closing in to close off passing angles out for a defence not always comfortable on the ball.

McAtee had joy in denying Lucas Digne space and on this occasion he forced the Villa man to ship a soft corner, from which Dias had a goalbound volley blocked. It might not have resulted in a goal, but Guardiola loved McAtee's work and he helped City get their press right more often than not.

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That kind of off-the-ball work is the kind of stuff Guardiola loves and he has said he regrets not playing the 22-year-old more often this season. When McAtee was replaced with 16 minutes to go he made his way to the dugout but Guardiola shouted 'James!'. He wrapped an arm around and seemed to offer praise, before talking about the lob that the attacker had floated just wide of Martinez's goal.

There is an expectation he will leave the club this summer, but there are aspects to his game which can help City and which Guardiola loves.

O'Reilly chat

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The reason Guardiola initially missed McAtee walk past him after being replaced is because he was deep in conversation with the excellent Nico O'Reilly further down the touchline.

The academy graduate was one of City's best players once again, becoming a magnet for the ball whether wide on the left or infield. The 20-year-old's influence was growing as the game progressed, which is a sign of his quality and why Guardiola was so keen to get some tactical instructions to him.

Guardiola anger

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Six or seven minutes after Rashford had netted his penalty to level the scores Guardiola was still in discussion with fourth official Matthew Donohue, at one point performing the same action Dias had done in trying to pull away from challenging Jacob Ramsay.

City players and staff were furious at the decision of VAR John Brooks to advise Craig Pawson to go to the screen, with the angle of the replay shown on the big screen not clear when it came to the contact. Guardiola's interactions with the officials and his demonstrations of what happened showed he didn't feel it was a spot kick.

It led to fury inside the ground at the decision, but the clearest replays did show Dias' knee making contact with Ramsey, who was running at speed into the penalty area. It helped create a siege mentality and Guardiola's anger turned into joy when he wildly celebrated Nunes' late winner.

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Sprinkler fun and games

Villa were out later than City for their pre-match warm-up at the Etihad and also stayed out on the pitch longer, but in doing so they found their plans disrupted by the timed sprinkler system coming on.

One coach had to run the gauntlet around halfway as he completed a drill, while the substitutes taking shots at a goal found a sprinker coming on near them and giving them a pre-match soaking.

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