Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 2-1 to move to the third position in the Premier League table on Tuesday.
Matheus Nunes Nunes fired City to a crucial victory over top-five rivals Villa in the fourth minute of stoppage-time at the Etihad Stadium.
City manager Pep 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.
Guardiola said: “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.
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“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.
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