Matty Cash Scores to Give Aston Villa Win Over Manchester City on Emery Anniversary

A goal from Matty Cash in the first half secured a 1-0 win for Aston Villa against Manchester City on Sunday, marking Unai Emerys third year as manager with an impressive performance.

This result marked Villas fourth consecutive Premier League victory and came at the perfect time after their unexpected loss to Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League the previous Thursday.

The win propelled Villa into seventh position in the table and marked their third successive home triumph over City. For Pep Guardiolas side, the loss halted a nine game unbeaten streak across all competitions and saw them trail leaders Arsenal by six points.

Manchester City nearly took the lead in the sixth minute as Tijjani Reijnders fired just over from the edge of the box.

Villa soon took control however and the games turning point came in the 19th minute.

After a short corner the ball reached Emiliano Buendia who delivered a cross to the edge of the area. There the Poland international Cash settled the ball before firing a low effort across his body that bent into the far bottom corner.

City came close to levelling just three minutes later but the sharp Erling Haaland, following a clever run by Bernardo Silva to beat the offside line, struck straight at Emiliano Martinez.

That proved the best chance for City during their visit to Birmingham as Villa controlled proceedings without adding to their advantage.

John McGinns attempt from distance took a deflection off John Stones and from the resulting corner Ollie Watkins had a clear header stopped.

McGinn threatened again shortly after the break with a strong volley from a corner that was cleared off the line.

City pushed hard for a goal but Ezri Konsa blocked Savinhos powerful drive on the hour mark while Pau Torres cleared another attempt from the Brazilian off the goal line.

Jadon Sancho who replaced the injured Buendia early on might have made it two in the 69th minute but saw two shots from a narrow angle kept out by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Manchester City committed numbers forward in search of a tie and believed they had found it in the 89th minute as Haaland finished at the back post. However the effort was chalked off after Phil Foden was deemed offside in the buildup.