Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola felt the corner that allowed Aston Villa to take the lead at home to his side in the Premier League on Sunday should not have been awarded.
Matty Cash opened the scoring from distance immediately after Guardiola complained about a challenge by Lucas Digne on Matheus Nunes, with former top-flight striker Clinton Morrison claiming the goal had been the consequence of a refereeing blunder.
The touch and finish from Matty Cash 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/E6AIaLj5HW
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 26, 2025
“Digne kicks Nunez,” said Morrison, who had predicted that Oliver would balance out his decision by awarding City a free-kick when Emiliano Buendia’s delivery went in.
“It is a free-kick. Michael Oliver knows he made a mistake – that’s why he took so long to make the decision about whether it was a corner or not.
“Pep [was] in the fourth official’s ear. [Oliver] knows he’s made a big mistake.”
Aston Villa vs Man City: Cash goal ‘fantastic’
Cash proved his ability to score from long range again with his fourth goal in nine appearances in the league and for Poland, making the breakthrough from Villa’s first corner in the 19th minute to put Unai Emery’s side on course to move seventh with a fourth successive top-flight win.
“Villa get their set-pieces spot on,” said Morrison, who was directly involved in 22 goals in 88 appearances in the Premier League for Crystal Palace and Birmingham City.
“It’s fantastic from Buendia and people make decoy runs. Matty Cash still has a lot to do. His touch is fantastic and he just drills it left-footed in to the bottom corner.
“City have one of the best goalies in the world but [Gianluigi] Donnarumma had no chance. It’s a brilliant goal from Matty Cash.”
The Cityzens, who arrived on a run of three successive league wins as part of a nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions, were underwhelming during the first half and cannot finish the day higher than fourth if they lose.
Aston Villa team vs Manchester City
Emery made six changes to the team who lost 2-1 at Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday, bringing in Cash, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne in defence and Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Morgan Rogers in midfield.
Victor Lindelof, Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Jadon Sancho and Evan Guessand made way.
Aston Villa starting XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Kamara McGinn, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins
Man City team vs Villa
Guardiola made three changes in midfield to the side who began the 2-0 at Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Tijjani Reijnders replaced Nico Gonzalez, while Phil Foden and Oscar Bobb came in for Rico Lewis and Jeremy Doku.
Man City starting XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol, Reijnders, Bernardo (c), Bobb, Foden, Savinho, Haaland
How to watch Aston Villa v Man City: TV, live online streams
Aston Villa vs Manchester City kicked off at 14:00 GMT on Sunday and is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Streaming on a vast variety of devices is available via the Sky GO app.
Premier League results and fixtures this weekend
Matches start at 14:00 GMT / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT unless stated otherwise.
Friday, October 24
Leeds United 2-1 West Ham
Saturday, October 25
Chelsea 1-2 Sunderland
Newcastle 2-1 Fulham
Manchester United 4-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brentford 2-1 Liverpool
Sunday, October 26
Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Wolves vs Burnley
Everton vs Tottenham (16:30)
