It all happened in the second half at the Etihad, as Manchester City come away with the three points in their early Premier League game against Aston Villa. John Stones came back into the squad for City, as their injury worries continue, especially in the centre-back position.
Manchester City got the game underway at a rainy Etihad, and they looked dangerous early on as they tried their luck again and again, but Aston Villa's plan seemed to involve getting everyone back, as they had a lot of men in their box ready to defend. Villa came back into the game a bit after the first twenty minutes and it was all rather even.
Half time came around and Manchester City would be frustrated not to get anything out of the first half. Aston Villa put all men back and their defence was solid in order to prevent them from conceding! Then it all happened in the second half of the game...
City's first goal came twenty seconds into the second half, Raheem Sterling got his 13th goal of the season, the ball was crossed very far down the pitch and landed to Sterling, who got past the defenders and just put the ball into the back of the net. Villa switched off after only just coming back onto the pitch and it cost them greatly!
Fernandinho received a yellow card in the 56th minute after a foul on Jack Grealish whilst he was making a run into the box. Grealish was also on a yellow card for an earlier foul and so both men had to be careful from that point on.
The second goal arrived in the 64th minute. Kevin De Bruyne had a shot from outside the box and it curled into the bottom corner, but David Silva was given the goal after he got a slight touch on it. The goal was checked for offside as Sterling pirouetted away from the ball to allow it to go into the net, but after a lot of consideration, the goal was given and Man City doubled their lead.
Villa had some good defending before the third goal (in the 69th minute), after they denied Silva at the far post, then Gundogan received the ball and played it right into the back of the net, a great finish from him saw City secure their three points and all Villa had to do from this point on was make sure to not concede any more goals.
Aston Villa tried their hardest to get a consolation goal late on, but their efforts came to nothing. Fernandinho was sent off in the 87th minute of the game! He received a second yellow card for a foul on Davis and it was the second red in two games for Manchester City, who are already short of central defenders in the next few games and now have to cope without Fernandinho too.
Full Time saw Manchester City go back up to second and close the gap on Liverpool to 3 points. Aston Villa will be disappointed to go away with the loss, after conceding three second-half goals. A great, exciting second half saw Manchester City beat Aston Villa 3-0 at the Etihad!