Man City vs Aston Villa Highlights: FT MCI 1-2 AVL; Guardiola signs off as Man City manager with a defeat

That’s it from our in our coverage of the Manchester City vs Aston Villa match on the final matchday of the 2025-26 Premier League. Here’s what the table looks like at the end of the season:

While City finished with more shots and remained slightly ahead in terms of possesion, Villa had more shots on target, which allowed them to finish ahead of the hosts in terms of goals scored.

90+11′: Pep Guardiola’s reign as Manchester City manager ends with a defeat, with Ollie Watkins’ second-half brace helping Aston Villa end the season with an away win. The result doesn’t affect City’s final position on the Premier League season as Guardiola’s side were set to finish second regardless. Aston Villa, however, ensure they finish fourth, ahead of Liverpool.

90+10′: Can Manchester City capitalise on what should be the final set piece of the game and try and sign off with a draw?

90+7′: Villa, meanwhile, are doing an excellent job in thwarting City’s attacks, and will have to hold them off for less than five minutes now.

90+1′: Enough time for City to try and eke out a draw, or even find a late winner? Or will Villa hold on to the lead and spoil Guardiola’s farewell?

90′: Man City get a late equaliser after all after Foden fires the ball over Bizot, with the ball hitting the roof of the net. The midfielder, however, appeared marginally offside while collecting the ball and the goal is indeed disallowed after a VAR check, much to the disappointment of City players and the home fans.

87′: Emery makes another change with less than five minutes left in regular time. Villa have been a completely different unit in the second half, and are in an ideal position to end the season on a winning note.

83′: Villa are awarded a Free Kick at a dangerous position with less than 10 minutes left in regular time. Both Watkins and Pau Torres fail to connect, with the former in an ideal position to head the ball in.

The game also witnesses its first booking with City’s Rico Lewis getting a yellow card.

77′: Stones receives a standing ovation at the ground that he has called home for a decade, getting a guard of honour on his way out much like long-time teammate Silva after Guardiola substitutes him as well as Reijnders and Ake with Doku, Ait-Nouri and Gvardiol.  Stones, overcome with emotion at this point, sits right next to Silva on the bench.

73′: Torres, Tielmans and Onana come in for Lindelof, Luis and Bogarde. Guardiola too is set to introduce more fresh legs after the emotional double change shortly before the hour-mark.

68′: The first cooling break was taken close to the 25-minute mark in the first half. This one’s taken shortly after the hour mark. It’s 26 degrees in Manchester at the moment – pleasant for those living closer to the equator but scorching for those in Britain.

61′: Aston Villa are in the lead for the first time today as Ollie Watkins beautifully threads his way past the City defence and fires the ball past Trafford with a neat finish to score his second goal less than 15 minutes into the second half! Villa’s celebrations initially die down after the linesman raises his flag, only for the decision to be overturned following a VAR check.

58′: Pep Guardiola makes the first set of changes in his final game as a Manchester City manager, taking Silva and Antoine Semenyo off and bringing Kovacic and Cherki in their place. Even Guardiola’s struggling to contain his emotions…

50′: Aston Villa find themselves in an ideal position to move into the lead for the first time after Bailey charges past Ake into the City box, only for his shot to fly wide of the goalpost.

47′: Aston Villa have bounced back after a forgettable first half and how! Unai Emery’s side win their first corner of the game a minute into the second half, and Watkins manages to fire the ball past Trafford to his right with a neat little finish!

46′: Man City remain unchanged while Aston Villa bring Matty Cash in place of Andres Garcia.

City completely dominated the first half against Villa at the Etihad, having 12 shots compared to none for their opponents with three on target and enjoying 60 per cent of possession.

45+3′: End of the first half that was thoroughly dominated by Manchester City, even if Pep Guardiola’s side find themselves ahead by just one goal. Can Aston Villa fight back in the second half? Stay tuned to find out with action set to resume at the Etihad Stadium in about 15 minutes…

45′: Enough time for Man City to double their lead? Or for Aston Villa to level the scores? Stay tuned to find out…

43′: Reijnders finds himself in a 1v1 situation with the Villa goalkeeper on the far post to the right and takes aim at the goal, only for his shot to be blocked by Bizot. Guardiola’s side aren’t able to capitalise on a subsequent corner.

39′: This set piece ends with Gonzalez’ shot being blocked by the Villa defence and the away team getting a goal kick in the end.

34′: City, who are leading 58-42 on possession, are awarded another set piece with a little over 10 minutes to go for halftime. Semenyo prepares to take the Free Kick, but ends up feeding it to the Dutch midfielder, whose shot nearly doubles City’s lead.

29′: A lapse by the Villa defence results in the ball rolling all the way to Savinho from one side of the penalty box to the other. The Brazilian takes aim, but narrowly misses out as the ball rolls away for a corner.

23′: The Etihad erupts with joy in Guardiola’s farewell match as Semenyo puts Man City in the lead a little over 20 minutes into the contest after scoring off a corner! Garcia attempts to head the ball away to safety, only for the ball to land at Semenyo’s feet. The winger, who had been signed in January, slots the ball past Bizot at the far post.

19′: Man City are awarded another set piece close to the 20-minute mark, which ends with Mings attempting a high clearance that results in his boot coming in contact with Aké’s face. City appeal for a penalty which is ignored by the referee for now.

13′: Another shot taken from the far post on the left side of the penalty area with Bernardo Silva – who is also bidding Man City goodbye along with Guardiola – taking aim from an even tighter angle. His shot, however, is blocked by Marco Bizot, who is playing ahead of Emi Martinez today.

10′: The Dutch midfielder is fed the ball from the left channel and takes aim with his left foot from the far post. Unfortunately for him, the angle is too tight and he ends up hitting the net.

4′: Manchester City get an early set piece after some sloppy defending near the touchline. Thankfully for Villa, the home side aren’t quite able to capitalise on the opportunity.

1′: Emery hands Guardiola a gift just before kickoff as a tribute to the outgoing City boss.

Meanwhile, here’s what Guardiola said before kickoff: 

“I’m feeling good. Trying to focus a bit on the game. It’s not easy with many things happening around us, not just for me but for Bernardo [Silva], John [Stones] and some people from the staff as well.

“But yeah, I’m trying to enjoy it with my family and the amount of people that I love.

“Making the same journey with John, who has been here the full 10 years with me, and with Bernie too, makes it incredibly special.

“It’s still a football game. We don’t want to make it a bad last game.

“Of course there are a lot of emotions around it, but at the same time we still want the right result.”