Sergio Aguero broke Villarreal's collective hearts with a last gasp winner for Manchester City, leaving the superior team departing with their third win in three matches and virtually no hope of making the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. A City win might have looked like the script before the match, but the assumption that they'd simply outclass their opponents (who are struggling in La Liga this season) proved very false just seconds into the match. The game was only four minutes old when Guiseppe Rossi lashed in a shot that Joe Hart couldn't deal with, allowing Cani to nip home and tuck in the rebound.
Manchester City Vs. Villarreal, 2011 UEFA Champions League: Sergio Aguero Saves Misfiring City
Etihad Stadium was stunned - City had just one point from their first two games and couldn't afford anything less than a win here to keep up with Napoli's pace. The hosts looked pretty poor throughout and despite dominating possession never seemed threatening. Their equaliser came in rather fortunate fashion, with Carlos Marchena diverting a cross into his own net, but it hardly eased City's nerves and they were barely better int he second half than the first.
Villarreal had clearly opted to hold onto the point with a raft of defensive substitutions, but Roberto Mancini was having none of that, committing Sergio Aguero to the fray with half an hour remaining. That would prove to be the key decision of the match - with seconds left in stoppage time, Aguero slid home a cross from point blank range to make the score 2-1 and spark jubilant celebrations. Manchester City are right back in it.
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