Matheus Nunes scored a 94th-minute winner as Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, providing a major boost to their hopes of Champions League qualification.

Nunes side-footed home at the back post after being found by a brilliant outside-of-the-boot pass from Jeremy Doku deep into stoppage time, as Pep Guardiola's side made their sustained second-half pressure count.

Marcus Rashford had earlier rattled the post inside 18 seconds after cleverly skipping past Ruben Dias, though it was Bernardo Silva who broke the deadlock, forcing an Emiliano Martinez blunder in the seventh minute.

Rashford soon equalised though, calmly converting from the penalty spot after Dias clipped Jacob Ramsey inside the box, with the spot-kick awarded following a VAR check.

City upped the ante in the second half with Omar Marmoush picking out the bottom-left corner to perfection, only to be flagged offside after Rashford squandered a fair few good chances, including two excellent opportunities in behind the City defence.

Villa's defence could not hold firm through five minutes of injury time, though, with Nunes sealing the win in dramatic fashion.

The result takes City up to third in the Premier League table, one point clear of fourth-placed Nottingham Forest and two ahead of Newcastle United in fifth.

Villa, meanwhile, stay in seventh place, two points off the top five - and four off City - with four games remaining.

Data debrief: City’s Etihad edge intact, but defensive struggles persist

The Etihad was once a fortress for Guardiola’s side, though City have often struggled at home this season.

The Etihad hasn’t quite been the happy hunting ground Guardiola is used to, with City having now conceded 22 goals at home in the league this season – their highest tally since 2003-04, the year the Etihad opened.

But City’s defensive struggles have not compounded their attacking prowess. They have scored 38 goals in 12 home games in all competitions in 2025 – scoring two or more goals in 11 out of 12 games so far, at an average of 3.17 goals per game.

They struggled to break Villa down for much of the game following Silva’s early goal, operating at an expected goals (xG) value of just 1.09, compared to Villa’s slightly superior xG of 1.68.

But a rare goal from Nunes got them over the line.

It was his first for City in the Premier League and just his second overall in 76 outings in the competition, with the other coming for Wolves against Chelsea in April 2023.