Manchester City Do Their Talking On The Pitch -- Rodri

Manchester City Do Their Talking On The Pitch -- Rodri.

Manchester City put a difficult week behind them by defeating Aston Villa 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium, closing in on Arsenal in the process.

Rodri said Manchester City did their talking on the pitch as they bounced back from a troubling week by beating Aston Villa.

City won 3-1 on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium – where the Premier League anthem was booed by home fans prior to kick-off – to move within three points of leaders Arsenal ahead of Wednesday’s crunch clash in north London.

Rodri opened the scoring in the fourth minute, with Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez putting City into a deserved 3-0 lead by the break.

Ollie Watkins pulled one back for Villa on his 100th appearance for the club, and although Jhon Duran hit the crossbar late on, City were comfortable enough as they made something of a statement after the Premier League accused them over 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.

“We just talk about football, we talk on the pitch,” Rodri told BBC Sport when asked about the off-field furore surrounding City.

“What happens off the pitch is not our business.”

City can move top of the Premier League with a win over Arsenal on Wednesday after the Gunners took just one point from their past two games against Everton and Brentford.

“We have the chance to go top,” Rodri added. “Go there and show our personality, the team that we are.

“They are playing at an incredible level and we have an incredible level too. It is going to be an incredible fight and an incredible battle and we have the chance to be on top of the table, so that’s what we have to think.”

Rodri had a difficult game in the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham last week, but the midfielder was back at his best on Sunday.

The Spain international had three shots, got two on target, and created four chances for team-mates, while topping the game for touches (112) and aerial duels won (five).

“Important game for me. It’s always part of the game when you fail, when you miss,” Rodri said.

“I was a bit upset last week but of course. I think the best players are the ones who come back easily.

“Today the team was great, even though I scored the first goal. It was important for me, for the mood of the team.

“Here in the Etihad when we can score in the first 15 minutes, it is a different game for us.

“The crowd was amazing, the environment was great. That’s what we need. Sometimes the coach speaks about this. We need the [fans] in every game here.”

Villa boss Unai Emery, meanwhile, rued sloppy mistakes from his team in the first half.

“We knew this would be a tough game after three away wins but we were not competitive,” he told Sky Sports.

“They were clinical, but we made mistakes today, three very important goals we could avoid normally.

“In the second we tried to be consistent, forget the score and be competitive and I think we did that in the second half.

“We have to be clinical with the chances we get, but in the first half they were better than us and decided the match. I can only say sorry to our supporters, and we did not play in the way we have been.”