Watkins ends Pep Guardiola's Etihad farewell with a brace as Villa lock fourth
Pep Guardiola's decade at the Etihad ended with the wrong result in front of a record crowd. Antoine Semenyo opened from close range in the first half, but Ollie Watkins struck either side of the hour to flip the afternoon into a 2-1 win for Aston Villa, locking fourth place and a senior Champions League spot for Unai Emery's side.
A first half going Pep's way
City controlled the early exchanges with the energy of a home side trying to send a manager off with a result. The breakthrough came when Villa failed to clear a corner cleanly. Semenyo, signed from Bournemouth in January, swept a close-range finish in to make it 1-0 and quiet the small away pocket inside the new North Stand. The home support, gathered in front of the freshly renamed Pep Guardiola Stand on the day it took his name, carried the rest of the noise to the interval.
Watkins flips it inside the first minute back
The opening play of the second half was Villa's. From a sustained spell of pressure right out of the dressing rooms, Watkins reacted quickest to a loose ball inside the City box and finished left-footed into the bottom corner. The half had not yet found a rhythm and the match was level.
A VAR review settles it
Just after the hour, Watkins doubled his afternoon. The strike was flagged offside on the field before VAR pulled it back and confirmed it stood. City rolled the dice late with a triple attacking change, but never carved an equaliser. Villa, who lifted the Europa League in Istanbul on Wednesday, walked off the Etihad with a Champions League ticket they had already half-secured.
Two routes to the same competition
Emery's side needed only to avoid defeat to wrap fourth. Their Europa win over Freiburg would have qualified Villa for next season's Champions League regardless, so the league-table route is effectively a top-five seeding upgrade. Liverpool's 1-1 home draw with Brentford on the same afternoon holds the fifth Champions League spot.
Pep's last walk at the Etihad
This was Guardiola's 593rd match in the City dugout, one past Les McDowall's record, and his last at home before Enzo Maresca takes over for next season. Bernardo Silva and John Stones, both signing off too, were given long ovations alongside the manager at the final whistle. City finish second on 78 points after a campaign that lost shape in the spring once Arsenal's title charge ran clear.
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