MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Pep Guardiola celebrated wildly as Manchester City took a big step toward Champions League qualification with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Tuesday.
With clenched fists, the City manager roared with delight after Matheus Nunes struck deep into stoppage time at the Etihad Stadium.
“I was so happy. I have to admit it,” Guardiola said after a win that could help salvage a troubled season for his once dominant team.
The late winner moved four-time defending league champion City up to third in the standings, with the top five securing a place in European club soccer's top competition.
Nunes fired home from a tight angle in the fourth minute of added time after Jeremy Doku's low cross through the box.
The game had looked destined to end in a draw after Bernardo Silva's first-half goal had been canceled out by a Marcus Rashford penalty.
There is still likely to be a tense battle for the Champions League with a clutch of teams in contention going into the final weeks of the season and just four points separating third to seventh in the standings.
But City’s fate is in its own hands after a troubled campaign that saw its title defense unravel before Christmas and its hopes of winning the Champions League end in the playoffs.
A top-five finish would go some way to ending the season on a high — and Guardiola's celebration was evidence of just how important the win could prove to be.
“We have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League,” said Guardiola, whose City team won the competition for the first time in 2023.
“If we win the next four games, it will have been so important,” he added.
Victory moved City up to 61 points and above Nottingham Forest in fourth and Newcastle in fifth.
Chelsea is sixth and Villa, with 57 points, is seventh.
England's top flight will be given a bonus fifth Champions League place because of the performances of English teams in Europe this season.
Both City and Villa have played a game more than their top-five rivals. But City knows a perfect record from its remaining four league games would guarantee a place in next season’s Champions League.
It would be the 15th season in a row that City has qualified for the competition and would provide an uplifting finale to a campaign that brought an end to Guardiola's recent dominance of English soccer.
There is likely to be a rebuild in the offseason, with Kevin De Bruyne leaving and Silva and Ilkay Gundogan also in the latter stages of their careers.
But it was Silva who provided the opener for City in the seventh minute from close range after Omar Marmoush's cutback.
Rashford had already hit the post for Villa by that point after bursting into the box seconds after kickoff.
And the on-loan Manchester United forward was on the score sheet in the 18th — equalizing from the penalty spot following a VAR review of Ruben Dias’ foul on Jacob Ramsey in the box.
Defeat was a blow to Villa's hopes of making it back-to-back seasons in the Champions League after returning to the competition for the first time in 41 years this term and advancing to the quarterfinals.
“Of course, today we lost, but there are still matches to play, still points to play (for). We will have chances to get the Champions League,” Villa manager Unai Emery said. “I am happy how we are reacting, how every player is facing the moment we are (in).”
Both City and Villa are also in the semifinals of the FA Cup.
Villa plays Crystal Palace on Saturday, and City plays Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson, The Associated Press
