Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to LIVE text commentary of Manchester City v Aston Villa at Eastlands on Bank Holiday Tuesday.

Premier League / Matchday 20

Etihad Stadium / 28.12.2010

Manchester City

Completed

Aston Villa

M. Balotelli(8' PEN, 27', 55' PEN)
J. Lescott(13')

Live

Live Updates

ByMark Patterson

Updated 28/12/2010 at 16:53 GMT

All
Highlights

90+4'

Manchester City go top! They could not have wished to meet more accomodating guests, and Mario Balotelli's hat-trick puts them top of the table.

90+3'

Don't want to sound like Alan Green, but just blow your whistle ref - this is like Germany-Austria from the 1982 World Cup.

90+2'

The ball goes out for a City throw, and Richards takes about 35 seconds retrieving it. Nobody minds very much.

90+1'

Three minutes of added time to be played.

90'

Referee Oliver sees fit to book Milner for a challenge on Delph. Fair enough...

89'

Plenty of fans heading for the exits a little early, and you can hardly blame them. This game has been over since the 13th minute.

88'

Pires was never the quickest, but he is now so slow he makes Teddy Sheringham look like Theo Walcott...

87'

Chance for Lichaj! Out of nowhere, the ball drops to the defender whose shot is tipped behind by Hart!

85'

Downing goes for goal again and once more his shot is wayward.

84'

Zabaleta brings doen Delfouneso just outside the box - a decent shooting chance for Villa here.

83'

The corner comes to nothing, as Pires attempts to lead a counter-attack but it soon peters out.

82'

The lively Jo gets it inside the box again and Lichaj puts it out for a corner.

81'

ASTON VILLA: Robert Pires comes on for Nigel Reo-Coker.

80'

Villa win another corner and this is actually not a bad spell for them.

79'

Hart is forced into a decent save as Delph hits a low, long-range shot from a half-cleared corner.

78'

Delph is carrying a knock of some sort and comes to the touchline for treatment.

77'

MAN CITY: Wayne Bridge replaces Nigel De Jong.

75'

Houllier has been brought in to nurture some promising academy products, but the youngsters are getting blown out of the water.

74'

Martin O'Neill left Villa at the start of the season following a row over the sale to City of Milner, and it seems his fears over the club's lack of strength were well-founded.

73'

The game has gone very flat. Can't blame City - Villa simply cannot pose any sort of a threat.

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