City Edge Villa In Thrilling Finish: Player Ratings

City needed a win to keep climbing up the table and they achieved that in a victory over Aston Villa which was a much closer contest than many expected. It was a thrilling game from start to finish that saw City score in the dying minutes of the game to secure the win after an unbelievable comeback by Villa.

Joe Hart - 5

Joe Hart did not have to deal with too may threats on goal today but he failed at the shots he was supposed to stop. He was out of place on the first goal scored by Aston Villa and wasn't at his best today.

Aleksandar Kolarov - 9

Kolarov was a crucial component to City's victory today. He was consistently pushing the ball up the pitch and scored a wonderful goal from a free kick and also crossed in the corner kick that lead to City's game winning goal.

Eliaquim Mangala - 6

It was a quiet game for Mangala, he had some trouble defending against some of the Villa attackers, although he didn't do anything that was detrimental to his teams success.

Martin Demichelis - 8

Demichelis had a good run out for City today. He was constantly stopping the offensive flow of the Villa attackers, providing some key defending for City in the absence of Vincent Kompany.

Pablo Zabaleta - 7

Zabaleta had a strong game, providing plenty of opportunities for his teammates in the attacking end of the field.

Frank Lampard - 6

Lampard didn't do much in the game, despite his successful history when facing Aston Villa. He was substituted early in the second half.

Fernando - 6

The Brazilian had a quiet game, a part from one opportunity of a header in the first half that wasn't too far off target.

Yaya Toure - 6

The speculation of the future of Yaya Toure has continued and he didn't have the best showing this game, he was substituted early in the match.

David Silva - 7

Although David Silva was not credited with a goal in this contest, he did have his opportunities and set up many opportunities for his teammates as well.

Jesus Navas - 7

After his great performance against West Ham, Navas' form dipped a little bit, but he was till very much a part of an offense that created continuous pressure.

Sergio Aguero - 8

Aguero added to his goal tally by scoring in the first few minutes of the much after an inaccurate pass by the Villa keeper provided a gift for the ever welcoming Aguero.

Substitutions:

Fernandinho (For Yaya Toure, 46 mins) - 8

After not seeing much action since stepping onto the pitch, Fernandinho was able to secure the game winning goal for City in the dying minutes of the match.

James Milner (For Frank Lampard, 57 mins) - 6

Milner came on to try his luck against his old club but didn't have much of an impact.

Wilfried Bony (For Sergio Aguero, 82 mins) - 6

Bony returned from his injury to play the final few minutes in a game that provided a good opportunity to reunite with the goal scoring ability that he lost after he left Swansea, he was unsuccessful.