Pep Guardiola admitted his jubilant celebration following Matheus Nunes’s dramatic stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa felt unfamiliar because Manchester City are not typically known for scoring late goals.
Nunes secured a vital 2-1 victory for City at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, netting from a tight angle in the fourth minute of added time.
The win lifts City to third place and hands them control of their Champions League qualification hopes with just four league matches remaining.
Guardiola’s unrestrained reaction — complete with fist pumps and a roar of elation — captured the emotional weight of a goal that came just moments before what could have been a damaging draw in City’s turbulent season.
“We’re not used to it,” Guardiola confessed. “That belongs to Liverpool — how many times have they scored late under Jürgen (Klopp)? Arsenal under Mikel (Arteta) as well. I’m not used to it, so I’m happy.”
“Football is emotion. The players, the fans —we’re all under pressure to qualify for the Champions League. The players’ behaviour was unbelievable. We’re very pleased to still be in the mix for a top-five finish.”
The hosts had taken an early lead through Bernardo Silva, only for Aston Villa forward Marcus Rashford to level the score with a contentious penalty after VAR intervened to penalise Ruben Dias for a challenge on Jacob Ramsey. Guardiola was visibly incensed by the decision and was shown a yellow card for his protests to the fourth official.
Yet, with the clock ticking down, it was City who found the breakthrough thanks to Nunes, who had recently been deployed at right-back. His cool finish marked his first Premier League goal for the club.
City’s performance was a bright spark in what Guardiola openly acknowledged has been a disappointing title defence.
Guardiola conceded that, given the season’s struggles, securing a place in the Champions League would be a satisfactory outcome.
“This season has been bad,” he said bluntly. “But Aston Villa are a top side, among the best in Europe. We were aggressive, our back four were unbelievable, and the overall performance was really good. Football is about living with disappointment, but we did what we had to.”
Villa, now seventh and two points off the top five, suffered a painful blow just days after their Champions League quarter-final exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite the defeat, Villa boss Unai Emery urged his players to shift focus to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
“We can’t waste time. We lost this match in the final minute, but we competed well,” Emery said. “City dominated more overall, but we gave a good account of ourselves.
“We need to keep pushing, maintain our standards, and prepare positively. Tomorrow we rest, then Thursday and Friday we’ll work hard for the Palace match.”
