“This is my moment!” Unai Emery proclaimed in an interview with TVE. The Basque coach felt strong these days. At the head of a team, Aston Villa, that continues to grow in ambition, individual quality and tactical sophistications after two years of work. Ready to make a splash in the Premier. An inflamed idea that cooled this Saturday when the marmitako seemed ready on the Villa Park stove. They won 1-0 and resisted being harassed in their area when in the last play of the afternoon, in the 96th minute, Evanilson scored the equalizer for Bournemouth. It was celebrated with discretion by Andoni Iraola, the visiting coach, Emery’s countryman, Emery’s tormentor, Emery’s spoilsport who suddenly saw his team go from being one point behind Liverpool, second placed, to stagnating in third position in a tournament tight in which every detail, every point, every setback, can prove fatal in Manchester City’s pursuit.
1
Emiliano Martínez, Matthew Cash, Ezri Konsa Ngoyo, Pau Torres, Digne (Ian Maatsen, min. 71), McGinn (Leon Bailey, min. 71), Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey, Amadou Onana (Barkley, min. 45), Ollie Watkins (Boubacar Kamara, min. 82) and Morgan Rogers (Jhon Durán, min. 57)
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Mark Travers, Julian Araujo (Adam Smith, min. 29), Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Marcos Senesi, Antoine Semenyo, Ryan Christie (Tyler Adams, min. 81), Dango Ouattara, Justin Kluivert (Marcus Tavernier, min. 64) , Lewis Cook and Enes Ünal (Evanilson, min. 64)
Goals 1-0 min. 76: Barkley. 1-1 min. 96: Evanilson.
Referee Chris Kavanagh
yellow cards Amadou Onana (min. 4), Justin Kluivert (min. 10), Tielemans (min. 17), Julian Araujo (min. 21), Adam Smith (min. 39), Jacob Ramsey (min. 40), Enes Ünal ( min. 46), McGinn (min. 54), Digne (min. 58), Antoine Semenyo (min. 80), Marcus Tavernier (min. 89), Matthew Cash (min. 94) and Barkley (min. 95)
City did not fail. Patched up with second-class midfielders like Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, Guardiola’s team carried out a difficult game against Southampton, with a balance of 22 shots in favor and five against. “I am so grateful to these players!” said Guardiola the day before; “I never expected them to show this level of consistency after nine years, and that shows in the chances we create and the few chances they create for us.”
The Spanish coach measured his work in emotional terms before receiving Southampton. He knows that if there is something that stands out at City since he began directing it in 2016, it is the perseverance, the sense of solidarity, camaraderie and camaraderie of a group of footballers whose character is the key to their hegemony in England. The coach’s recognition of the eighth stage of a Premier League that is presented as a long race of resistance after the wear and tear suffered by the players in the last year, the Euro Cup included in a summer saturated with action, foreshadowed a difficult day. Centimeter by centimeter, City worked their game until they had three points thanks to a goal from Erling Haaland, his tenth goal of the season, a goal that is worth more than three points in the current situation of the competition.
City, which has not lost at home since September 2022, is the virtual leader with 23 points and this Sunday Arsenal (fourth with 17 points) and Liverpool (second with 21) face each other, after Aston Villa, third With 18 points, they received a blow from Bournemouth, the Manchester team affirms its progress.
