Martinez stinker as Rashford gets 8/10 – Aston Villa player ratings v Man City
Aston Villa fell to a late defeat against Manchester City on Tuesday night as Emi Martinez struggled once again.
The Villans travelled to the Etihad on 22 April and came away with a 1-1 draw despite going 1-0 down after just seven minutes.
Bernardo Silva’s early strike was soon cancelled out by a cooly taken Marcus Rashford penalty after Jacob Ramsey was taken down in the box by Ruben Dias.
Besides an Omar Marmoush strike ruled out for a clear offside, there was little action to speak of until Matheus Nunes netted a last-minute winner.
On a day when the B6 club bottled a huge opportunity in the top five race, Villa News rates the players out of 10.
Aston Villa player ratings v Manchester City
Emi Martinez – 4
Matty Cash – 5
Ezri Konsa – 5
Pau Torres – 6
Lucas Digne – 5
Boubacar Kamara – 6
Youri Tielemans – 7
Amadou Onana – 7
Morgan Rogers – 6
Jacob Ramsey – 7
Marcus Rashford – 8
Substitutes
John McGinn – 5
Axel Disasi – 5
Ollie Watkins – 5
Marco Asensio – N/A
Donyell Malen – N/A
Aston Villa have plenty to play for this season
There was plenty to appreciate about Emery’s side as they played such excellent football at times against the Premier League champions.
The Citizens may have had the better of the ball in the second half and eventually won the game, but they were often unable to penetrate the stubborn Villa backline.
| Stat | Manchester City | Aston Villa |
| Possession (%) | 60 | 40 |
| Expected goals | 0.87 | 1.57 |
| Big chances | 1 | 4 |
| Accurate passes | 402 | 239 |
This was helped by some positive performances from the likes of Tielemans, Onana and Kamara at the base of midfield for the away side, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Although it wasn’t the win that the B6 outfit wanted at the Etihad, there is still plenty of football to be played between now and the end of the season.
An FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace looms on Saturday (26 April) while a race for a top-five finish rages on in the Premier League.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this result against City has impacted the Villans and how they can move forward and look ahead to a clash at Wembley.