Manchester City broke away in the second half for a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa to inch closer to the Premier League title on Wednesday evening. Manuel Pellegrini had the Citizens calm and collected throughout as they fought off Paul Lambert's side in a crucial match with Championship weekend ahead.
City took control of possession right out of the gates while Villa, on the other hand, took a page right out of Jose Mourinho's book with as much as six or seven men covering the back line. The Sky Blues failed to create many chances before the break, though an early strike from Yaya Toure just 12 minutes in nearly found the back of the net. American international Brad Guzan made a quick save to his left to keep the match scoreless, which led to a bit of urgency from Pellegrini's side.
Samir Nasri had the best chance of the half in the late stages, but his header from a James Milner cross went just wide of the right post. Villa were destined to hold their line defensively, but a quick counter from Andreas Weimann after a City corner led to a one-on-one break against Pablo Zabaleta. Weimann's shot went wide right off a deflection before City regained control.
There were no changes after the scoreless first half and the City crowd quickly began growing restless shortly after both sides returned to the pitch. David Silva and company started the second half right where they left off with another spell of possession in the hope of finding a hole in Aston Villa's defense, but Lambert's men held their ground once again.
Edin Dzeko finally broke the deadlock with a tap-in goal in the 64th minute after a great run by Zabaleta. Silva found the Argentinian fullback with a superb pass to setup City for with their first lead of the day. Dzeko grabbed his brace just seven minutes later with a rebound off a Nasri strike to make it 2-0 to the Citizens.
With momentum quickly growing, Manchester City took control in the final stages of the match to secure the three points. Weimann found himself with another great opportunity in the 83rd minute before his header went off the bar, closing out the night for Aston Villa.
Stevan Jovetic came on midway through the second half and added a goal of his own to make it 3-0 before Toure went on a brilliant run in extra time to finish off his brilliant performance with a spectacular goal.
Manuel Pellegrini is now closing in on the title with a home matchup against West Ham standing in his way. A win or a draw over the Championship weekend will be enough to give Manchester City their second league title in three seasons.
Can the Citizens hold off the Hammers on Sunday to return to Premier League glory?
