Man City took a huge step towards Champions League qualification when Jeremy Doku came off the bench to set up Matheus Nunes' 94th minute winner in the 2-1 victory against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.
The decision to bring on Belgium winger Doku proved an inspired move for Man City manager Pep Guardiola. It was a substitution from his counterpart — Villa boss Unai Emery — however, which led to an altogether different reaction from one of his own players, Ross Barkley.
Man City took a seventh-minute lead through Bernardo Silva before Marcus Rashford levelled for the visitors from the spot.
As the tension built in the final minutes a crucial match in the battle for European qualification, Emery had already turned to his bench twice — firstly to bring on Axel Disasi and John McGinn and then turning to Marco Asensio and Ollie Watkins.
With four minutes remaining of the 90 minutes, Emery rolled the dice for a final time and asked Netherlands forward Donyell Malen to replace Morgan Rogers.
Fans spotted a wide-eyed Barkley's reaction to his manager's decision. The midfielder, who has been capped by England 33 times, looked shocked as he shook his head from the substitutes' bench.
Malen had already made a goalscoring impact from the bench for Villa twice this month, against Brighton and Southampton but was unable to repeat the trick at the Etihad Stadium.
Barkley has not started a game for the club for three months having been sidelined by a knee ligament injury he picked up in January 10's FA Cup third-round win over West Ham.
The 31-year-old's game time since then has been limited to two late substitute appearances this month — against Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle.
The result moves Man City up to third place in the Premier League table while Villa remain in seventh, two points off the final Champions League spot of fifth and having played a game more than their rivals.
Villa will have the chance to put Tuesday night's disappointment behind them when they travel to Wembley to face Crystal Palace in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final.
Guardiola's Man City face Nottingham Forest the following day in the other semi-final match.
W0linhO
0
but his better in these areas compared to your coach
My coach sub game is top, not even Pep comes close. We've super subs this season, our problem is the technical quality. His squad selection hv never been disappointing
cazaclpy
0
Unai Emery is a good coach but a horrible line up selector and substitution. Terrible in using his squad
but his better in these areas compared to your coach
reecmortuz
2
suddenly Aston villa has me more fans yesterday in my area
Jieimrtuyz
0
emery is the worst manager ever when it comes to subtitutions
I can't agree with this more, seeing him sub Rashford angst PSG & leaving a v quiet Rogers just as he did yesterday made me to conclude that not only is Emery poor at substitution but also game reading.
wucciknruz
0
unai Emery can make it to the UCL if Chelsea,Man city,Nottingham, Newcastle are all not becareful of
zuaakotu
1
emery is the worst manager ever when it comes to subtitutions
W0linhO
2
Unai Emery is a good coach but a horrible line up selector and substitution. Terrible in using his squad