Pep Guardiola admitted his wild celebration of Matheus Nunes’s stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa felt strange because Manchester City don’t score as many late goals as their Premier League rivals.
Nunes fired City to a crucial 2-1 victory over top-five rivals Villa in the fourth minute of stoppage-time at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Guardiola responded to Nunes’s composed finish from an acute angle by launching into a frenzied fist-pumping dance of joy including a primal roar that underlined the significance of the result.
City had been seconds away from a damaging result in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top five finish.
But now they control their own fate with four games left in their turbulent league season, thanks to an unusual feeling of last-gasp success.
“We’re not used to it. That belongs to Liverpool especially, how many times did they score late winners under Jurgen (Klopp) and Arsenal under Mikel (Arteta) as well? I’m not used to it, so I’m really, really happy,” Guardiola said.
“Football is emotion. For the fans, players, we have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League.
“The players behave unbelievable. We are so pleased. We’re in the last four games and we’re a Champions League contender for qualification.”
Nunes’s first league goal for City came after Aston Villa striker Marcus Rashford converted a controversial penalty to cancel out Bernardo Silva’s early opener.
Guardiola was booked for ranting at the fourth official after VAR intervened to call for a penalty after Ruben Dias made contact with Jacob Ramsey.
But, with time running out, City enjoyed a rare uplifting moment in a difficult campaign that will see them surrender the title they had won in the previous four seasons.
– ‘The season has been bad’ –
Guardiola will be happy with a top five berth in the circumstances this term.
“Aston Villa is a team to the last man, one of the top teams in Europe. But we played really good. We were aggressive in our duels, the back four was unbelievable,” he said.
“Football if you’re in this business to live with the disappointment. The performance was really good and we were able to do it.
“The season has been bad. The reality is what makes you feel good is the Premier League.”
Seventh-placed Villa are now two points adrift of the top five with four games left.
It was a bitter blow after their agonising Champions League quarter-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain last week.
But boss Unai Emery called on his players to bounce back in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
“We can’t waste time, we lost in the last minute of this match, but we competed well. We were close to drawing,” he said.
“Over 90 minutes Man City dominated more, but we played a good competitive match.
“We can’t waste time now, we have to keep going. We want to try keep the level that we’re achieving and try to be demanding in our way so we can build us stronger in everything.
“Tomorrow, rest. Thursday and Friday, positive and work hard to prepare for the game against Crystal Palace.”